Russians vote as Ukraine war drags on for fifth year

AFP | Washington

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 Russians began voting yesterday in a tightly controlled three-day election that is set to tighten President Vladimir Putin's 26-year grip on power, in the country's fifth year of war with Ukraine.

It is Russia's first parliamentary election since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022, setting off a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands.

Only parties that support Putin and the Kremlin's military campaign have been registered to run. Moscow has also organised voting in occupied Ukraine.

The European Union slammed the elections, saying "repression" had been used to eradicate opponents, while a Council of Europe body denounced the vote as "fake".

While few Russians doubt Putin's United Russia party will cruise to victory again, the vote offers a gauge of public support for the war.

Voting for all 450 seats in the Duma, Russia's lower house, runs until 1800 GMT on Sunday.

Putin has ruled Russia since 1999 and his party has dominated politics since the early 2000s.

Moscow has banned criticism of the Ukraine campaign, and elections under Putin rarely produce surprises.

Putin had called on Russians to vote to show they back Moscow's troops and to deliver an "answer to those who want to weaken Russia".

The Kremlin published footage of the 73-year-old president voting online -- rare footage of the longtime leader using technology.

‘Fully for the special military operation’

Rail worker Sergei Korenets, 41, said he will back United Russia, voting for "stability" -- echoing Putin's main slogan.

Asked whether four-and-a-half years of war amounts to "stability", Korenets said: "Of course, I want all this (the war) to end as quickly as possible."

But he did not want change at home, he said, as "I am satisfied from the point of view of my financial situation".

Despite sweeping Western sanctions, Russia's economy has not collapsed and life in the capital remains relatively normal even as Moscow bombards Ukrainian cities daily.

United Russia faces only parties that broadly back Putin's policies and the war: the Communist Party, the nationalist LDPR, A Just Russia and New People.

Yabloko, which called for an end to the fighting, was barred from running shortly before the vote. One of its main figures, Lev Shlosberg, was imprisoned for criticising the war.

Russia has since 2022 introduced Soviet-style censorship and jailed war critics.

"I am fully for the special military operation," 55-year-old Lyubov told AFP in Moscow, using the Kremlin's term for its offensive.

"NATO cannot be at our borders," she added, repeating one of Putin's arguments for launching the war.