Russia is preparing to rig the State Duma elections in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories
Russia plans to rig the so-called State Duma elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, ensuring a voter turnout of over 65–70% and at least 70% support for the “United Russia” party.
Vladimir Putin’s administration has set the goal of ensuring a turnout of over 65–70% in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories and securing at least 70% of the vote for “United Russia.”
“Putin’s administration has set the goal of ensuring a voter turnout of over 65–70% in the temporarily occupied territories, as well as securing at least 70% support for ‘United Russia.’ The elections themselves in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories are completely illegal, but Russia wants to use them to legitimize the occupation,” Kovalenko noted.
Kovalenko emphasized that holding Russian elections in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories is illegal. At the same time, the Kremlin plans to use the results as a tool for propagandistic legitimization of the occupation of Ukrainian territories.
According to him, the elections to the Russian State Duma are currently accompanied by widespread rhetoric in support of continuing the war against Ukraine. All political forces, according to the head of the Center for Political Analysis, support further military operations.
At the same time, the anti-war party “Yabloko” was deliberately barred from participating in the elections so that it could not secure a significant share of the vote.
“This is yet another proof that the Putin regime sees no future without war and is afraid to show support for anti-war sentiments. At the same time, a segment of the Russian population that opposes the continuation of the war is growing steadily. These are mainly residents of Russia’s regions, although similar sentiments are being observed in Moscow, where rumors of a possible mobilization are viewed extremely negatively,” Kovalenko said.
He added that, at present, opponents of the war in Russia are unable to organize large-scale street protests.
The head of the Center for Political Analysis drew a parallel between modern Russia and the Soviet Union. According to him, the USSR ultimately collapsed due to economic problems and the accumulation of negative sentiment among the population.
These were people who did not protest openly but criticized the authorities in private conversations—“in their own kitchens in prefab apartment buildings and Khrushchev-era apartments.”
Thus, according to Kovalenko’s assessment, the Kremlin is attempting to exert maximum control over the election results and prevent the expression of genuine anti-war sentiments, while simultaneously using the voting in the occupied Ukrainian territories for its own propaganda purposes.
This was reported by Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, on Telegram.
Earlier, Oleg Matveichev, deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma’s Committee on Information Policy, claimed that voting against the “United Russia” party in the September 18–20 elections allegedly constitutes support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
