Russia opens three-day parliamentary vote to renew 450 State Duma seats
Polling stations opened in Russia's Far East on Friday morning to begin a three-day legislative vote for all 450 State Duma seats, the first parliamentary election since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Polling opens in the Far East
Polling stations opened at 08:00 local time on Friday in the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, marking the start of Russia's three-day parliamentary election. Russian state news agencies RIA Novosti and TASS reported the early openings across the Far East. Voters are casting ballots to fill all 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament. The election runs through Sunday, 20 September 2026, with polls scheduled to close at 18:00 GMT before preliminary results are published. This election is the first legislative vote held in Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
- Polling stations open at 08:00 local time in Kamchatka and Chukotka
- Voting takes place across Russia and occupied Ukrainian territories
- Polls close and preliminary ballot counting begins
Approved parties and excluded opposition
The ruling United Russia party, which currently holds the parliamentary majority and backs Vladimir Putin, is positioned to retain control of the assembly. Electoral authorities restricted ballot access exclusively to parties that support the Kremlin and the military campaign in Ukraine to varying degrees. These authorized formations include the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), the conservative A Just Russia, and the New People party. By contrast, authorities barred Yabloko, the only party openly opposed to the war, from presenting its candidate list. The vote is also taking place across the eastern Ukrainian territories occupied and annexed by Russia.
Public opinion and war fatigue
Political analysts cited by Swiss broadcaster RTS classify Russian public opinion into three distinct groups after more than four years of fighting. Approximately 15% of the population firmly supports the military offensive, with some members of that group criticizing the Kremlin for not pursuing the conflict aggressively enough. An opposing minority rejects the invasion and opposes the government, while the remaining majority holds conflicting attitudes. Research from the independent Levada Center indicates that more than half of Russian citizens do not actively follow war reporting and believe the military operation has brought more negative consequences than positive outcomes to the country.
Clémentine Fauconnier, a political scientist at the Université de Haute-Alsace, described the division between nominal support and genuine backing among voters.
To the question 'Do you support the war?', Russians answer yes, sometimes at more than 60 or 70%. But if we ask 'In your opinion, should the war continue?', then the majority of people answer that it should stop as soon as possible.
Passive support and state messaging
Researchers note that broad public alignment with government policy functions primarily as passive acceptance rather than active ideological commitment. Many citizens accept official state messaging selectively without fully embracing government narratives.
Our research shows that the population is not very receptive to the discourses conveyed by propaganda or ideology, that it does not convince them of the merits of Kremlin policy.
This posture allows citizens to follow government directives without participating closely in political affairs. Fauconnier outlined how this dynamic shapes public reactions to state actions.
It is a support that is above all legitimist, which means that citizens are used to broadly supporting what Vladimir Putin does, but without really investing themselves, without being interested.
