The Verkhovna Rada called on the international community not to recognize Russia's new State Duma

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has appealed to the international community, calling on it not to recognize the results of the elections to the ninth State Duma of the Russian Federation and not to admit Russian deputies to international parliamentary organizations.

The appeal was addressed to the UN, the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, NATO, the OSCE, and other international institutions.

Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk stated that the voting on September 18–20, 2026, took place amid restrictions on political rights and freedoms, and that holding the election in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine violates the state’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Ukrainian parliament emphasizes that Russia’s conduct of the elections does not alter the status of the occupied territories, specifically Crimea, Donetsk Oblast, Luhansk Oblast, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and Kherson Oblast.

Source: Ruslan Stefanchuk, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

On September 20, in the temporarily occupied part of Donetsk Oblast, polling stations’ operating hours were shortened during the illegal Russian vote for the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Instead of closing at the usual time of 8:00 p.m., they remained open only until 2:00 p.m. The occupying “election commission” explained this by claiming that the majority of residents had allegedly already voted.

Anzhelika Glazkova, a State Duma deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), introduced a bill that would rename St. Petersburg to Leningrad and Volgograd to Stalingrad. According to the document, the cities must be given their new names within a year after the law takes effect.

Earlier, in the Russian State Duma cafeteria, the popular “Kyiv-style cutlet” was renamed. At the start of the parliament’s fall session, a new price tag appeared next to the dish, reading “cutlet with butter.”