Vladimir Putin voted online in Russia’s parliamentary elections, held over three days

Vladimir Putin voted online on Friday in Russia’s parliamentary elections, the first legislative election held since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. Voting is taking place throughout the weekend, until Sunday, across the country’s 11 time zones.

More than 111 million Russians are eligible to vote. Authorities have introduced and expanded electronic voting to facilitate participation, while the Central Election Commission announced that turnout had reached approximately 30% by Friday evening, a figure that also includes online votes.

Before the election, Putin told voters that the result would demonstrate the support of millions of people for Russian servicemen and the unity of the population. United Russia, the party close to the Kremlin, is expected to retain control of the State Duma.

The election is taking place amid a limited presence of the anti-war opposition. Yabloko, the only registered party to have criticized the invasion of Ukraine, was excluded from the ballots. For the first time, the election also includes residents of four Ukrainian regions annexed by Moscow in 2022, although Russia does not fully control these territories.