Russia began voting Friday in a parliamentary election held under tight Kremlin control, with the ruling United Russia party expected to retain its dominant position in the State Duma.
The election comes at a difficult time for Russia, more than four years after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The war has affected the country's economy and political environment, while Ukrainian drone attacks have damaged oil refineries, warehouses and other infrastructure.
Public concern has also grown as the fighting has increasingly affected daily life inside Russia.
United Russia, the main pro-Kremlin party, is expected to maintain its strong majority in the lower house alongside several other parties that support President Vladimir Putin. Authorities have tightened restrictions ahead of the first wartime parliamentary election since the 2022 invasion.
The Kremlin moved to suppress signs of dissent before three days of voting began in Russia's Far East on Friday. The only party on the ballot that openly criticized the war was later removed from the election, while several anti-war politicians have been jailed or forced to leave the country.
For the first time, residents of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims to have annexed are included in the election. Ukraine has rejected the vote as illegal.
With Putin facing no immediate political challenge and the election outcome largely predictable, analysts say the Kremlin sees the vote as a way to demonstrate public support for the war and reinforce its political legitimacy.
"Your choice and resolve will once again demonstrate that millions of people stand behind our fighters, that we are a united people, bound by shared values, historical memory, and love for the Motherland," Putin said in an address before voting began.
Economic pressure grows after summer attacks
A wave of Ukrainian long-range drone attacks over the summer brought the effects of the war closer to millions of Russians.
The attacks added to pressure on an economy that has slowed after initially receiving a boost from heavy military spending. The government has raised taxes and increased domestic borrowing to manage a widening budget deficit.
Attacks on Russian oil refineries caused a serious fuel shortage that reached its peak in June. The situation improved for several weeks before shortages returned in August.
A series of attacks on warehouses operated by online retailers Wildberries and Ozon caused further economic disruption. Hundreds of thousands of individual sellers lost merchandise, affecting businesses across the country.
The developments also affected public sentiment. President Vladimir Putin's approval rating has declined, although it remains relatively high. The independent Levada Center put his approval at 76% in August, down from 87% in September 2025.
Some members of Russia's political and economic elite have also voiced concerns.
Andrei Klepach, chief economist at state-owned VEB.RF bank, warned of possible social unrest.
"We won't win the competition in this war of attrition," he said at a seminar. "Our costs are mounting. I'm almost sure that we will come to face a social crisis."
Klepach was dismissed the day after his comments were published.
Putin maintains war objectives
Putin has acknowledged that Ukrainian attacks have caused significant damage but said Russia's economy can withstand the pressure. He accused Ukraine of opening a "Pandora's box" and threatened a major response.
Russia subsequently increased missile attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities and introduced more jet-powered drones, taking advantage of Ukraine's shortage of air-defense interceptors.
Moscow also intensified attacks on Ukrainian Black Sea ports, disrupting exports of grain and other agricultural products that provide important revenue for Ukraine.
The escalation has raised concerns that the Kremlin could consider another large-scale mobilization.
A partial mobilization of 300,000 reservists in 2022 prompted hundreds of thousands of Russians to leave the country, creating domestic political pressure. Since then, the Kremlin has relied mainly on volunteers, offering relatively high salaries and other benefits to attract recruits.
Military experts, however, have warned that the number of volunteers has declined while Russian battlefield losses remain high.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly claimed that Moscow could announce another mobilization after the election. Putin has dismissed the claims as "nonsense."
At a Sept 5 meeting in the Kremlin with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, followed by a phone call with US President Donald Trump, Putin said Russia had the advantage on the battlefield. His comments indicated that Moscow would maintain its demanding position in any negotiations to end the war.
Anti-war parties and candidates sidelined
In July, Russia's Central Election Commission approved 11 parties to take part in the parliamentary election, including Yabloko, the only party openly opposed to the war.
Several weeks later, however, the Supreme Court removed Yabloko from the ballot following an appeal by the nationalist Motherland party. The appeal argued that Yabloko's anti-war position amounted to support for violating Russia's territorial integrity.
Kremlin observers described the decision as evidence of disagreements within the authorities over how much political competition should be allowed.
Tatyana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center said there had been concern that the campaign could turn into a debate over peace and the war.
"The risks that the campaign would turn into a struggle for and against peace — that is, a dispute about the war — were quite high, and this clearly was not part of the plan," she said.
Maxim Kruglov, a deputy chairman of Yabloko and former Moscow city council member, was convicted in June of spreading false information about the military and sentenced to seven years in prison.
Last month, a court in the Pskov region convicted another Yabloko member, Lev Shlosberg, for speaking out against the war and sentenced him to more than 11 years in prison.
Half of the Duma's 450 seats are filled through party-list voting, while the rest are decided through single-constituency races. With Yabloko removed from the party-list ballot, authorities also prevented many of its individual candidates from running in single-constituency races for the Duma and regional legislatures.
Liberal politician and war critic Boris Nadezhdin, who sought to challenge Putin in the 2024 presidential election, left Russia last month. He had been designated a "foreign agent" and said he feared possible imprisonment.
United Russia expected to retain control
United Russia currently holds more than two-thirds of the Duma's seats and is expected to remain the dominant political force despite public fatigue over the war and economic difficulties.
Some Russian reports suggest the Kremlin may allow the party's share of the vote to decline slightly, while still ensuring it retains control of parliament.
"United Russia may be allowed to slip a little … to bring its actual sort of declared results more in line with probably its real results," said analyst Mark Galeotti, head of Mayak Intelligence.
He added that the Kremlin would ensure United Russia remained "absolutely dominant within the Duma."
One purpose of the election, he said, is to create "legitimating rituals to give the impression that mass consensus is behind the Kremlin."
Other parties in Russia's so-called systemic opposition — the Communist Party, Liberal-Democratic Party and A Just Russia Party — are also expected to retain seats. All have generally supported Putin's policies and the war.
Galeotti said Ukrainian attacks have increased anxiety in Russia but could also strengthen calls for a tougher response against Kyiv, particularly among people who do not expect to participate directly in the fighting.
Chris Weafer, CEO of Macro-Advisory Ltd., said the attacks had affected public morale but did not pose an immediate threat to the Kremlin's political control.
"There has been a 'rally around the flag' anyway since the start of conflict and the opinion polls consistently show the very high level of support," he said.
Although the election outcome is largely predictable, Weafer said the Kremlin is particularly interested in voter turnout and the public narrative surrounding the vote, which can be used to claim broad public support for its policies.