Putin’s United Russia party wins record 355 parliament seats

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Members of a local electoral commission empty a ballot box to count votes in Russia’s parliamentary election in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, on September 20, 2026, amid the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict. (Photo by AFP)

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President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party won a record 355 seats in Russia’s 450-seat Duma lower house of parliament, according to preliminary results from the three day election released by electoral chief Ella Pamfilova on Monday.

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With almost all votes counted from the poll, in which no parties critical of Putin took part, results showed the presidential party will have a supermajority larger than its previous 2016 record of 343 seats.

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It was Russia’s first parliamentary election since Moscow launched its Ukraine offensive in 2022.

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The Kremlin tightly controls elections and Moscow has banned criticism of its military campaign in Ukraine.

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Pamfilova said turnout was more than 59 percent, thanking Russians for voting despite what she called “psychological pressure” on the country.

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Russia’s Communist party came second, winning 40 seats.

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The nationalist LDPR party took 25 seats and the New People party winning 20 seats.

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United Russia has dominated politics since the early 2000s and Putin has been in power since New Year’s Eve 1999.

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Pamfilova said that more than 95 percent of votes have been counted and that final results will be announced later this week.

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AFP

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