Russian election enters final day after Ukraine targets Moscow in massive drone attack

• Ukraine launched its largest drone attack on Moscow to disrupt Russia's parliamentary election, but Moscow repelled it, shooting down over 1,600 drones, with two deaths reported near the capital.
• The election, seen as a show of support for Putin's war in Ukraine, largely excludes anti-war candidates and is expected to keep the ruling United Russia party dominant.
• Despite predictable results, some systemic opposition parties may gain votes due to public frustration over war impacts and economic strain, posing minor challenges to Kremlin control.

MOSCOW – Ukraine launched what Moscow’s mayor called the biggest ever drone attack on the Russian capital on Sept 20, in what he said was an unsuccessful attempt to disrupt the final day of a parliamentary election that President Vladimir Putin has cast as a test of support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The drone strikes killed two people in the Moscow region and two more in the Russian-held part of Ukraine’s Kherson region, including an election official, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and the election authorities.

A facility at Moscow’s oil refinery, which has been targeted before, was also damaged.

“The biggest attack by enemy drones has been repelled. The unprecedented attack was clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the elections. The enemy did not succeed,” Sobyanin said on Telegram.

The State Duma vote, the first since Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022, is expected to see the ruling United Russia party easily retain its dominance in a political system critics say does not tolerate dissent.

The Kremlin is likely to present the outcome as evidence of public backing for Putin’s policies and for the war, Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II, now in its fifth year with no sign of ending soon.

The election authorities say the three days of voting have proceeded smoothly despite cyberattacks reported on Sept 19.

Turnout by late morning on Sept 20 was at over 45 per cent for the Duma vote and regional elections, said Central Election Commission chairwoman Ella Pamfilova.

Most anti-war candidates were barred from the ballot. Those who did run from the liberal Yabloko party – which has polled in the single digits in recent years but hoped to tap into war fatigue – said they feared for their freedom after long jail terms were given to two senior party figures before the vote for comments about the conflict deemed illegal by officials.

Discrediting the army or spreading what the authorities regard as fake news are punishable by lengthy prison sentences.

In a small act of defiance, Yabloko’s leader, Nikolai Rybakov, demonstrably spoilt his ballot paper, writing his party’s name and the slogan “For peace”.

The Kremlin says national unity and some censorship are necessary during what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine. It casts the conflict as part of an existential struggle with a hostile West and says Ukrainian intelligence services and other enemies are stepping up efforts to stir unrest inside Russia.

Permitted opposition parties could benefit

Russian electoral officials said on Sept 19 that an online voting system in Moscow had come under cyberattack.

Kyiv, which has suspended elections under martial law, has dismissed the Russian vote as a “pseudo election”.

Putin on Sept 18 also accused Ukraine of trying to interfere in the election, citing what he said was a Ukrainian strike on the home of an election official in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region that killed Elena Astanina, the official.

Reuters could not independently verify details of the attack and there was no comment from Kyiv.

Despite what experts see as the election’s predictable outcome, the NEST think-tank in Berlin, co-founded by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, whom Russian officials have designated “a foreign agent”, said the vote could still produce awkward moments at a time of economic strain.

“The consequences of the war are increasingly being felt within the country, and accumulated anxiety and frustration may translate into votes for the systemic opposition parties the Kremlin has allowed to remain on the ballot,” said a note. It said the Communist party and the New People party could attract votes the authorities would prefer to go to United Russia. Both parties have consistently voted in line with United Russia on major issues.

Putin told the nation in a televised address before the election the vote would underline support for troops fighting in Ukraine. “Your choice, and your will, will once again demonstrate that millions of people stand behind our soldiers, that we are a united people bound together by shared values, historical memory, and love for our homeland, and that no one will succeed in dividing or intimidating us,” he said.

Initial results are expected to start emerging at around 1800 GMT on Sept 20, with more complete results available on Sept 21. REUTERS