President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party has secured a commanding majority in Russia’s State Duma, winning 355 of the parliament’s 450 seats, according to preliminary results.
With more than 95% of votes counted, United Russia had received 57.83% of the party-list vote, according to Russia’s Central Election Commission. The result gives the ruling party a constitutional majority in the lower house.
The result represents an increase from the 49.8% United Russia recorded in the 2021 parliamentary election and would give the party its largest Duma faction to date, surpassing the 343 seats it secured after the 2016 election.
The Communist Party finished second with 13.81%, while the LDPR received 8.98% and New People secured 7.96%, according to preliminary figures released after 95.18% of ballots had been counted.
Central Election Commission chair Ella Pamfilova put turnout at more than 59%, with final results expected later in the week.
The election is the first parliamentary vote in Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The campaign and voting took place amid tight political restrictions, with several opposition figures and parties prevented from participating. International and Russian critics have questioned the conditions under which the election was conducted.
The vote was also held against the backdrop of the continuing war in Ukraine, including Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory during the election period.
United Russia has dominated Russian parliamentary politics for more than two decades, while Putin has been the country’s dominant political figure since becoming acting president at the end of 1999.
The preliminary results leave United Russia with a strengthened position in the State Duma as Russia continues to prosecute its war in Ukraine and faces ongoing international pressure.
Final results are expected later this week.