Russian political parties have decided not to spend money on the elections because “nobody cares” about them
Russian political parties have significantly cut funding for their campaign ahead of the sham elections to the Russian State Duma. No amount of money will change the apathy with which the public views the current state of affairs in Russia.
According to data from election funds, only the “United Russia” party raised the maximum allowed amount of 700 million rubles, but spent only one-sixth of that amount. Other political forces are also operating on minimal budgets: the LDPR received about 350 million rubles, and “New People” received less than 90 million, compared to 463 million in the previous election. Meanwhile, the “Rodina” party, which successfully sued to have “Yabloko” removed from the election, reported having only 1.85 million rubles in its accounts.
Experts describe the current election campaign as the least well-funded of this century. According to sources among officials and organizations linked to the Kremlin, campaigning has lost its meaning due to Russia’s massive internal problems, including the fuel crisis, accidents at infrastructure facilities, and regular drone attacks, all of which are causing widespread apathy toward the electoral process.
“The country has a gasoline crisis, warehouses are burning, drones are flying, and shit is flowing in rivers. And we’re supposed to be talking about birth rates, the economy, and other boring nonsense,” noted one official in the Central Federal District (CFD). The head of a large nonprofit organization that works with the Kremlin stated that the election campaign is going “worse than in the Soviet Union.” “No one gives a damn about these elections; they don’t even want to waste money on them,” the source told “Verstka.”
Source: “Versтка.”
Russia, through the Foreign Intelligence Service, has launched a new propaganda campaign to create the illusion of legitimacy for the September “elections” to the State Duma. A SVR statement claims that the EU, PACE, and Western intelligence agencies are allegedly preparing destabilization efforts, cyberattacks, and provocations, as well as enlisting the Russian opposition to discredit the vote.
Russia is preparing to hold illegal “elections” to the State Duma in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The vote is scheduled for September 18–20, 2026.
