
September 18th, 2026
Russians started voting on Friday.
The voting lasts three days.
This is a parliamentary election during a war.
There is almost no opposition.
The election will likely keep the Kremlin in power.
Officials spread voting over the weekend.
It ends on Sunday.
They want more people to vote.
There are 111 million voters.
People can also vote online.
By late Friday, about 30% had voted.
This includes online votes.
The Central Election Commission said this.
This is the first election since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
The Kremlin wants it to show support for the war.
It has also tried to remove any disagreement.
President Vladimir Putin spoke to the nation.
He said voters' choice would show that millions support the fighters.
The Kremlin said Putin voted online on Friday.
It shared pictures of him at a computer.
United Russia is the main Kremlin party.
It will almost certainly keep control of the lower house.
The lower house is called the State Duma.
Smaller "systemic opposition" parties usually vote with the government.
They are also expected to keep their seats.
Voters fill in two ballots.
One is for parties.
One is for individual candidates in single-seat areas.
The liberal Yabloko party was the only registered group that criticized the war.
Russia's Supreme Court removed it from the ballot last month.
Voting is also happening for the first time in four Ukrainian regions.
Moscow took these regions illegally.
It is also happening in Crimea.
Kyiv called the voting there illegal.
It asked foreign governments not to recognize it.
The European Commission also called it illegal.
It said the EU will never recognize the results.
In Sochi, polling stations closed for a short time because of a drone threat.
In the Russian-held Luhansk region, Ukrainian drones damaged power lines.
Then 14 polling stations used backup power.
Election head Ella Pamfilova said this.
September 18th, 2026

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