War and Ballots: Russia Conducts Parliamentary Elections in 5 Cities Seized From Ukraine

Kyiv: Parliamentary elections have been held in Russia for the first time since the war with Ukraine started. In this election that lasted for three days, along with Russia, votes were also cast in four regions of Ukraine, which Moscow had claimed to occupy in 2022. Kyiv and the European Union have rejected it outright.

After all, what is so special about this election?

The special thing is that this is the first major election in Russia after the attack on Ukraine in 2022. Voting took place on 18, 19 and 20 September. This time around 11 crore 10 lakh people were in the voter list. President Vladimir Putin himself also came to cast his vote. That is why this is not just being seen as an election but as a test of Putin's grip in the midst of a war.

There was competition on how many seats?

This election was held for a total of 450 seats in the lower house of the Russian Parliament, called the State Duma. In this, half the game is in the name of the party - 225 seats will be decided from the party list and on the remaining 225 seats, candidates are in the fray directly.

Which areas of Ukraine were dragged into this?

The four areas that Russia is claiming as its own are Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia. The reality is that Russia does not have complete control over any of these areas and no major country in the world considers them a part of Russia.

Russian officials claim that there are more than 35 lakh voters in these four places. Using the pretext of security, voting was started here even before the rest of Russia.

What was the condition of Putin's party United Russia?

In the initial trends, Putin's party United Russia emerged at the forefront. According to the figures that came till the night of 20 September, it seemed to be getting around 57 to 58 percent of the party list votes. Although this is not the final figure, the counting was still going on. The Election Commission said that the total voting was around 57 percent.

Did the opposition get an equal chance to fight?

This is where most questions are being raised. Many anti-war leaders faced difficulties even in filling the nomination papers. Just before the elections, the Supreme Court excluded the liberal party Yabloko from its election symbol.

The opposition and some outside observers say that the atmosphere had already been created one-sided. Whereas the government says that the elections were completely clean and according to the law.

What do Ukraine and Europe have to say on this?

Ukraine has clearly said that the voting being conducted by Russia in its areas is completely illegal. The European Union has also objected to this and said that it will never accept the results of these areas.

Whereas Moscow is adamant on its point. He says that these four areas are now part of Russia, so the people there also have the right to vote.

What was the impact of the war amid voting?

The situation became more tense on the last day. Major drone attacks were carried out by Ukraine on many Russian cities. Russia said that it shot down most of the drones in the air, but at some places there was damage and loss of lives. Despite this, voting was not stopped.

Overall, this was not just an election. Amidst war, occupation and worldwide protests, this voting has become a political message for Putin.