Moscow, 21 September 2026: The 'United Russia' party supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin has secured a bumper majority in the country's parliamentary elections. Putin's party has captured a record 355 seats out of total 450 seats in the Russian Parliament (State Duma). According to the report of 'Associated Press', the results of more than 95 percent of the polling stations of the Central Election Commission show that the Kremlin's ruling party has registered its biggest victory this time.
Central Election Commission Chairperson Ella Pamfilova said that, according to preliminary results, 'United Russia' has got 355 seats out of 450, which is the highest figure in the history of the party. Out of total 450 seats, 335 seats were for party lists, in which 'United Russia' got 58 percent of the votes. While the remaining 225 seats were for single-ballot contest, in which the party's candidates emerged victorious on 208 seats.
This was Russia's first parliamentary election after the war with Ukraine that started in February 2022. President Putin linked this election to support for Russian troops fighting in Ukraine. Earlier in the 2021 parliamentary elections, 'United Russia' party had got 324 seats out of 450.
In this election, the anti-war party 'Yabloko' was prevented from contesting the election, although some of its leaders were allowed to contest from certain seats on an individual basis. This time a total of 56.66 percent voting was recorded across Russia. It is noteworthy that President Vladimir Putin himself is not a formal member of 'United Russia', but he has been the chairman of this party from 2008 to 2012.
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Voting process completed amid Ukraine drone attack
On Sunday, the last day of the elections, there were reports of Ukraine releasing more than 1600 drones targeting Moscow and surrounding areas. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin had claimed that as many as 450 drones were sent targeting the capital Moscow alone. Nevertheless, the voting process was completed amidst heavy security.