Russia’s ruling party is expected to retain power in the State Duma, a result the Kremlin says indicates the broad support President Vladimir Putin still enjoys.

But the election has been criticised in the West for the lack of genuine opposition.
Dasha Chernyshova has more from Moscow.

Russia’s ruling United Russia party is set to strengthen its hold on Parliament, with preliminary results showing it is expected to take around 355 of the State Duma’s 450 seats, giving it a constitutional majority and more seats than in the previous parliament.

Three other parties have cleared the 5% threshold in the party list vote.

The Communist Party has taken around 14% of the votes, It has remained a major force in Russian politics since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Liberal Democratic Party is gaining about nine percent, and New People roughly eight percent.

Turnout was close to 60%, the highest for a parliamentary election in Russia since the early 2000s, according to preliminary reporting.

This is the first State Duma election since Russia launched its full-scale military operation in Ukraine in 2022.

Putin had presented the vote as an indication of public support for the country’s political course.

The campaign was conducted with most openly anti-war candidates excluded from the ballot, while the liberal Yabloko party was prevented from contesting the party list vote.

–SABC–