The Kremlin has vowed to “intensify” strikes on Kyiv after accusing Ukraine of trying to disrupt Russia's state election with the largest drone attack of the war so far.
asserted
Kremlin → vow → war
President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party was comfortably ahead in early results on Monday following a vote in which observers were turned away and genuine opposition banned.
asserted
opposition → follow → which
Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday that its forces shot down a total of 1,110 Ukrainian drones across Russia, as well as over the annexed Crimea and the Black Sea.
asserted
forces → say → Crimea
Two people were killed and 20 wounded across the wider Moscow region, local governor Andrei Vorobyov said.
asserted
Vorobyov → kill → region
Monday's initial results showed United Russia comfortably ahead with 57.5 per cent of the vote.
asserted
Russia → show → vote
Other parties that were likely to return to the State Duma have all publicly supported Putin's leadership.
asserted
that → return → leadership
The Kremlin has tried to cast the parliamentary election as a test of support for its war in Ukraine, even as critics say there are few available avenues for genuine dissent.
asserted
critics → try → dissent
Ukraine fires over 1,000 drones at Russia in largest attack since war began
The election's last day came against a backdrop of a major wave of Ukrainian attacks.
asserted
day → fire → attacks
Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday that its forces shot down a total of 1,110 Ukrainian drones across Russia, as well as over the annexed Crimea and the Black Sea.
asserted
forces → say → Crimea
Two people were killed and 20 wounded across the wider Moscow region
asserted
20 → kill → region
, local Governor Andrei Vorobyov said.
asserted
Vorobyov → say → ?
The election follows a summer of Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on oil refineries that triggered a widespread fuel crisis.
asserted
that → follow → crisis
Warehouses belonging to online retailers Wildberries and Ozon also were attacked.
asserted
Warehouses → belong → retailers
Those attacks have exacerbated economic problems and brought the war home for millions.
asserted
attacks → exacerbate → millions
Russian opposition abroad holds protests
Russia’s exiled opposition, including the widow of Alexei Navalny, Yulia Navalnaya, called on anti-war Russians to cast their votes at noon on Sunday.
asserted
opposition → hold → Sunday
Thousands of Russians living in Armenia took part in the vote, lining up outside the Russian Embassy in the capital, Yerevan.
asserted
Thousands → live → capital
Some of them joined the “Noon for a Peaceful Russia” anti-war demonstration, holding anti-war and anti-Putin posters.
asserted
Some → join → posters
Mark Podberezin, a journalist, said members of the election commission in Yerevan made remarks that felt like “outright intimidation".
asserted
that → say → intimidation
He said he had heard comments "along the lines of, ‘You’ll have to return to Russia sooner or later, keep that in mind.’”
asserted
You → say → mind
Lidiya Klimenko said she did not think her vote would have any real impact.
asserted
vote → say → impact
The most useful thing to do, she said, was “to see other people who are also against the war, to be together in a shared cause”.
asserted
who → do → cause
In Germany, voters cast their ballots at the Russian Embassy in Berlin.
asserted
voters → cast → Berlin
Andrei Pivovarov, a dissident and former head of the Open Russia group, addressed a protest gathered outside the building.
asserted
Pivovarov → address → building
Issues with electronic voting in Moscow
The head of Russia’s Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, on Sunday said that the electronic voting system in Moscow was targeted by cyberattacks.
asserted
system → say → cyberattacks
She blamed one of the “systemic parties” – meaning one of those taking part in the vote, without specifying which one.
asserted
She → blame → one
SotaVision, an independent Russian news outlet, said on Sunday that voters were reporting glitches in the electronic registry systems at polling stations across Moscow.
asserted
voters → say → Moscow
People were not issued paper ballots and instead were asked to vote via an electronic terminal, the outlet said on Telegram.
asserted
outlet → issue → Telegram
Leonid Volkov, a close associate of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, suggested the supposed breakdown of the system used to issue paper ballots in Moscow may have been deliberate, aimed at pushing voters toward electronic voting.
uncertain
breakdown → suggest → voting
“Demand a paper ballot!” he wrote on X on Sunday.
asserted
he → demand → Sunday
Lines formed outside polling stations as many voters refused to vote electronically.
asserted
voters → form → stations
Having urged supporters to spoil party-list ballots, Yabloko party leader Nikolai Rybakov cast a ballot in St Petersburg on Sunday, covered in bright green writing declaring “For freedom," “For peace,” and “Yabloko”.
asserted
Rybakov → urge → peace
Russia turns away independent European observers from polling exercise
Russia didn’t invite observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, with the Russian foreign ministry accusing the body of “double standards” for its criticism of Russia.
asserted
ministry → turn → Russia
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly president Pere Joan Pons said that the decision was a breach of Russia’s commitments as a member state of the organisation.
asserted
decision → say → organisation
Yabloko, the liberal opposition party, reported that one of its observers lost consciousness while being arrested by police at a St Petersburg polling station on Saturday, after officials accused him of trying to “disrupt the elections” and called police.
asserted
officials → report → police
The parties reported violations including sealed ballot boxes being opened, doors to polling stations not being secured overnight, and a refusal to issue paper ballots.
asserted
doors → report → ballots
The claims could not be independently verified.
uncertain
claims → verify → ?
At one polling station in the Russian-held part of the Donetsk region, voters dropped their ballots in a box as an armed Russian soldier stood nearby and watched.
asserted
soldier → hold → box
Opposition sidelined as observers report violations
asserted
observers → sideline → violations
The liberal Yabloko party, the only registered political entity that dared to publicly criticise the war, was removed from the ballot last month by Russia’s Supreme Court, and only has a few dozen candidates in the single-constituency races.
Additionally, some anti-war politicians were imprisoned or forced to flee abroad ahead of the campaign.
asserted
politicians → register → campaign
Yabloko and the Communist Party, which has criticised some aspects of government policy but carefully avoided any criticism of Russian president Vladimir Putin, said many of their observers were turned away from polling stations.
asserted
many → criticise → stations
…and 22 more, not listed.
The Aporia
