Russia’s ruling United Russia party has secured 355 seats in the 450-member State Duma, marking its highest-ever parliamentary election tally, according to preliminary results.
With more than 95% of polling stations reporting, the party received 57.83% of the party-list vote and was leading in 208 of the 225 single-member constituencies, data from the Central Election Commission showed.
The result surpasses United Russia’s performance in the 2021 election, when it won 324 seats.
Russia’s parliamentary voting system allocates half of the seats through party-list voting and the other half through single-member constituencies.
This is the first parliamentary election since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
President Vladimir Putin presented the vote as a sign of support for Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.
The election took place amid restrictions on opposition candidates. The liberal Yabloko party was excluded from the federal ballot, while some of its politicians were allowed to contest individual constituencies. Other opposition figures were also barred.
Voting was also held in Ukrainian territories claimed by Russia, including parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, whose annexation is not recognised by Ukraine and other governments.
Turnout was reported at around 59%, though the figure may change after verification.
