General
Putin's United Russia Heads for Record Number of Seats in Parliamentary Elections
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With 95 percent of votes counted, Vladimir Putin’s ruling party, United Russia, is projected to secure a record number of seats in the Duma following the parliamentary elections. The party won 57.83 percent of the vote, potentially gaining 355 of 450 seats, surpassing its previous record from 2016. Genuine opposition was excluded from the race, and criticism of the war in Ukraine remains prohibited. Political analyst Farida Roestamova described the elections as a ritual to maintain an appearance of legitimacy similar to the Soviet era.
Ozetta summarises; the reporting is the newsroom's