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MOSCOW: Russia will this week hold tightly-controlled elections in a vote seen by the Kremlin as a barometer of public opinion on the war with Ukraine which is dragging through its fifth year.<\/p>\n
Some Russians have grown weary of economic stagnation and intensifying Ukrainian retaliatory attacks and there is fear in some quarters that Putin could order a mass call-up of new soldiers after the election.<\/p>\n
The parliamentary vote — held from September 18 to 20 — will be the first since Russia launched its offensive in February 2022, and only the second nationwide poll after a presidential contest that re-elected Putin in 2024.<\/p>\n
Voting is also due to take place in parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia\u2019s army.<\/p>\n
The war has killed hundreds of thousands, brought huge censorship at home, devastated eastern Ukraine and seen Moscow hit with unprecedented Western sanctions.<\/p>\n
With Moscow having banned criticism of the war, no real opposition parties will be on the ballot paper and Putin\u2019s ruling United Russia party is assured to scoop a majority of seats in the State Duma.<\/p>\n
A European diplomat told AFP that while the election was \u201cquite a sham\u201d, it was a \u201critual the Kremlin considers essential\u201d, and it would be striving to \u201censure a high turnout\u201d.<\/p>\n
Even if the results are \u201cpredefined\u201d, voting still matters, exiled Russian political scientist Nikolai Petrov said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust like at the time of the Soviet Union, elections should demonstrate loyalty of citizens,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n
Only pro-Putin parties <\/strong><\/p>\n For Putin — in power for 26 years — it is important to \u201cdemonstrate to elites that he is still supported, still trusted by ordinary people\u201d, Petrov said.<\/p>\n Half of the 450 seats up for grabs will be decided by a nationwide vote for party blocs, with the other half allocated to single-member districts across the country.<\/p>\n Only parties that support Putin and the war have been permitted to stand on the national ballot: the ruling United Russia party, the Communist Party, A Just Russia, nationalist LDPR and New People.<\/p>\n Russia\u2019s sole anti-war party still active inside the country, Yabloko, was barred from standing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a choice without a choice,\u201d 18-year-old Yevdokia told AFP on the streets of Moscow.<\/p>\n She had planned to vote for Yabloko, which called for an end to fighting in Ukraine, but will now go for New People.<\/p>\n Authorities have used the backdrop of the war to ramp up repression to levels unseen since the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n All of Putin\u2019s top opponents are in jail, exile, or dead — like his main challenger Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison in 2024.<\/p>\n While Russia\u2019s parliament has seen its powers hugely reduced under Putin, legislative elections have previously been sources of tension.<\/p>\n In 2011, widespread fraud and the return of Putin to the Kremlin from the role of prime minister led to Russia\u2019s largest protests since the end of the USSR.<\/p>\n In Moscow, there are few signs that an election will even take place this year.<\/p>\n Campaign posters are few and far between, save for generic ones from the authorities urging people to participate — featuring the slogan, \u201cYour voice is Russia\u2019s strength\u201d.<\/p>\n Mobilisation fears <\/strong><\/p>\n The vote will serve as a barometer of feelings on a war that has killed hundreds of thousands and undermined the daily lives of Russian, even those living thousands of kilometres from the front.<\/p>\n In recent months Kyiv has stepped up its long-range strikes on Russia — cast as fair retribution for Moscow\u2019s own barrages — causing fuel shortages, billions of rubles in damage and killing civilians.<\/p>\n Amid persistent rumours, Putin himself has been forced to deny Moscow plans a new round of mobilisation — similar to the unpopular 2022 call-up of 300,000 reservists — after the vote.<\/p>\n Kremlin critics, Kyiv and some Western countries have accused him of planning just that.<\/p>\n Russian expert Tatiana Stanovaya — of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre that is banned by Moscow — believed a call-up is unlikely.<\/p>\n \u201cThey made so much effort to convince Russians not worry about it… I would be very, very surprised if it happens.\u201d<\/p>\n In his inevitable victory, Putin would instead see \u201cconfirmation of his legitimacy,\u201d she said — \u201clegitimacy of his war\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n