Kremlin hails election of nearly 50 Ukraine war veterans to Russian parliament

MOSCOW, Sept 25 - The Kremlin on Friday hailed the election of 46 veterans of Russia's war in Ukraine to the 450-seat lower house of parliament, the State Duma, saying they would be heavily involved in the lawmaking process.

Ella Pamfilova, the head of Russia's Central Election Commission, announced the full and final results of this month's three-day election on Friday, saying veterans would account for over 10% of the new Duma, a figure which Russian media have suggested is a record in post-Soviet Russia.

Asked about the electoral success of veterans of what Russia calls its special military operation in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:

“Well, first of all, this is excellent. The experience of our heroes is in high demand. The results of the vote have clearly confirmed this. And, of course, each in their own field will make the greatest possible contribution to shaping various initiatives.”

Pamfilova said final results showed that the ruling United Russia party would get 349 seats in the new parliament, the Communist party 37 seats, the ultra-nationalist LDPR 23 seats, the New People party 19 seats, the Just Russia party 17 seats, and the Motherland party one seat. Four other seats would go to people unaffiliated to any party who had put themselves forward, she said.

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that high turnout in the election of nearly 60% showed that Russians support their armed forces fighting in Ukraine and the authorities' efforts to protect national security.

In a tightly controlled political system, which critics say does not tolerate genuine dissent, most anti-war candidates were barred from running and those that did take part won no seats in the national parliament, although the liberal Yabloko party secured a tiny foothold in a regional parliament. REUTERS