Russian election observer loses consciousness during arrest in St Petersburg

Yabloko said police forcibly detained one of its observers at a St Petersburg polling station, where he lost consciousness. The incident sharpened wider opposition claims that Russia's parliamentary vote is being tightly controlled.

In Short

• Voting runs three days in Russia's first parliamentary poll since invading Ukraine
• Yabloko says officials barred and pressured multiple party monitors across polling stations
• The party was removed from the ballot after criticising the Ukraine war

Russia's opposition Yabloko party said one of its election observers lost consciousness while being arrested by police at a polling station during the country's three-day parliamentary election. The party said the incident took place at a polling station in St Petersburg on Saturday, the second day of voting.

The election to choose members of the State Duma is Russia's first parliamentary vote since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The three-day exercise, which began on Friday and ends on Sunday, has virtually no opposition and is widely expected to secure the Kremlin's political dominance.

In a statement on Telegram, Yabloko said officials at the polling station accused its observer of trying to "disrupt the elections" and called the police, who "used force" against him. The party said it was unclear whether he received prompt medical attention after he fell unconscious. It added that he was taken to a police station and charged with disobeying police orders.

Russian officials did not immediately comment on the incident. Yabloko, the only registered political force that criticised Russia's war in Ukraine, was removed from the ballot last month by Russia's Supreme Court and now has only a few dozen candidates in single-constituency races. Some anti-war politicians were also jailed or forced to leave the country before the campaign.

Yabloko and the Communist Party said many of their election observers had been turned away from polling stations. On Friday, Yabloko leader Nikolai Rybakov appealed to Central Election Commission chief Ella Pamfilova over what the party described as repeated denials of entry to its observers and pressure on them. "The scale of what's happening does not allow us to view this as a misunderstanding," Rybakov said.

Russia did not invite observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe to monitor the election, with the Russian Foreign Ministry accusing the body of "double standards" over its criticism of Russia. Moscow said it had invited other international organisations as well as observers from OSCE member states instead. OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Pere Joan Pons said the decision breached Russia's commitments as a member of the organisation. "This persistent rejection of independent scrutiny follows a deeply worrying pattern of disregard for the principles of transparency, democratic accountability and the rule of law," he said.

Russia's Central Electoral Committee said more than 380,000 election observers had been registered before the vote, including representatives of 11 political parties. Of them, 97,040 were linked to the ruling United Russia party, while 42,743 represented the Communist Party. The commission also said 1,126 international election observers and "electoral experts" from 133 countries and 13 international organisations had been registered.

In the run-up to the vote, Russia also tightened restrictions on election observers. Under a new code of ethics, observers are barred from making statements "that could be construed as undermining confidence in the electoral system". Authorities spread the election over the weekend and allowed electronic voting in what they said was an effort to raise turnout among 111 million eligible voters.

The Kremlin wants the vote to project public support for the war in Ukraine while avoiding political risk by suppressing dissent. United Russia is expected to retain its overwhelming control of the State Duma, with smaller parties that usually back the government on key issues also likely to keep their presence in the lower house.

In sum, the second day of Russia's parliamentary election was marked by Yabloko's allegation that one of its observers was forcibly detained and lost consciousness, alongside wider complaints from opposition parties about restrictions on monitors in a vote expected to reinforce the Kremlin's hold on the State Duma.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends