Russia's United Russia wins record Duma majority in first parliamentary vote since Ukraine war began

Russia's ruling United Russia party has won a record 355 seats in the State Duma, according to preliminary results released after the country's three-day parliamentary election. The result gives President Vladimir Putin's party a supermajority in the 450-seat lower house of parliament. It is the first national parliamentary vote held since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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Ella Pamfilova, who heads the election commission, announced the preliminary tally on Monday after almost all votes had been counted. The election took place over three days, and parties critical of Putin did not take part. The result surpasses the previous record set in 2016 and strengthens the Kremlin's control over the legislature.

The scale of the victory is politically significant because the vote was widely seen as a test of public support for the war in Ukraine. The conflict is now in its fifth year, and there is no clear prospect of an end. A supermajority in the Duma gives United Russia greater room to pass legislation and support the government's wartime agenda.

The election also reflects the tightly managed political environment in which Russia's national contests are held. The exclusion of anti-war and opposition voices from the ballot reduced the range of choices available to voters. Among the parties absent was Yabloko, which had opposed the war and was removed from the ballot before polling day, according to the supplied material.

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The Duma is Russia's lower house of parliament and plays a central role in approving laws and formalising the government's political direction. In this case, the result further consolidates the position of Putin's party at a time when the war continues to shape domestic politics and state institutions. It also provides the Kremlin with a fresh mandate claim as it seeks to show continuity and stability during the conflict.

What remains unclear from the preliminary figures is how the final certified result will compare with the current count and whether any later adjustments will be made. The immediate focus will be on the official confirmation of the seat distribution and on how the Kremlin presents the outcome domestically and abroad. The vote is likely to remain a reference point for assessing political support for the war and the limits of electoral competition in Russia.

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