Putin's party set to retain power after Russia vote hit by cyberattacks, drones
Summary
Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party won a large majority in parliamentary elections overshadowed by cyberattacks and Ukrainian drone strikes. Ukraine’s strikes killed two people near Moscow as Russia accused Kyiv of trying to disrupt the vote.
Key Points
- United Russia won 57.5 percent of the vote and is on course to retain its two-thirds majority in the State Duma.
- The election was marked by large-scale Ukrainian drone strikes on Moscow and surrounding regions, killing two people and causing fires and evacuations.
- Russia said election infrastructure faced more than 1,000 waves of DDoS attacks, which officials described as highly coordinated and possibly AI-assisted.
- No anti-war party was allowed to run, while Putin urged Russians to vote as a show of support for the war effort.
