Russia Holds Duma Elections in Occupied Ukraine as OSCE Observers Barred
Russia began voting for its State Duma on Friday, including in occupied areas of eastern Ukraine, while election observers from the OSCE were not invited to monitor the outcome. Critics say the vote is designed to manufacture the appearance of public support for the war and annexation.
Russia began voting for its State Duma on Friday in an election that for the first time since the 2022 invasion includes occupied areas of eastern Ukraine, where Moscow is seeking to reinforce the appearance of popular backing for its war and annexation. The vote is taking place without election observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which critics say signals that the Kremlin has no intention of holding a free and fair contest.
«Russia's refusal to invite an election observation mission seriously breaches its international commitments and shows a worrying disregard for democratic standards,» OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Pere Joan Pons said. «Election observation is not optional — it is something that all OSCE participating States have agreed to, and it is a cornerstone of transparency and accountability.»
The election unfolds under strict censorship laws enacted after the invasion, which criminalize any dissent about the operation or the armed forces. A Russian court sentenced Lev Shlosberg, a vocal critic and leader of one of the country's only opposition parties, to more than 11 years in a penal colony for criticizing the war. Before the sentencing, Russia's Supreme Court banned his Yabloko Party from participating in the September elections. Nine parties appear on the ballot, all supportive of President Vladimir Putin, including the Kremlin's own United Russia.
Moscow unilaterally annexed portions of occupied Ukrainian territory in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia shortly after the 2022 invasion. In 2023, Putin signed legislation allowing elections to take place in the occupied territories. Ukraine and the international community do not recognize Russian sovereignty over those regions. Critics describe elections in Russia and the occupied territory as window-dressing opportunities used by Putin to promote his narrative that the war and the annexation were legitimate and lawful.
Keti Korkiya from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Russia Program said Russians are ready to support Putin, the Kremlin and the war symbolically, but are unwilling to pay a personal or economic price. That, she said, is why Russia has not carried out another wave of mobilization. The elections, like most in Russia, will take place under a climate of pervasive fear and manipulation rather than the freedom to exercise a democratic right, according to critics.
«It's a total regime of terror,» said Jaroslava Barbieri, research fellow at the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House. She added that election officials are escorted by Russian soldiers carrying ballot boxes door-to-door. «Ostensibly framed as a security measure against Ukrainian partisan strikes, this is about direct intimidation, and it is a flagrant violation of international law,» she said.
The last time Russian elections were held in the occupied territories was in 2024, when Putin secured a fifth term with nearly 90% of the vote. Residents in occupied Ukraine were forced to acquire Russian passports, which authorities use to compile voter lists. Russia's Central Election Commission approved new electoral regulations for occupied Ukraine, stressing the importance of early and at-home voting to prevent large gatherings that could be exploited by Ukrainian attacks.
Putin said in August that the State Duma elections will reaffirm Russia's stability on the world stage and highlight the maturity of its political system and resilience in the face of foreign aggression. Russia's foreign ministry said preparations for overseas voting are nearly complete, with 326 polling stations at Russian embassies and consulates in 152 countries.
Volodymyr Ariev, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, said people living in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories should boycott the staged Russian elections. «Any sort of elections held in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories is illegal and a breach of international law. Ukraine will never recognize any person 'elected' as a member of Parliament in the temporarily occupied territories,» he said. Ariev urged residents to leave their homes and spend election day elsewhere to avoid being coerced into voting.
Ivana Stradner, who focuses on Russian information security and influence operations at the FDD, said that as Russia's battlefield momentum stalls, the costs of war mount and Ukraine brings the conflict to Russia's doorstep, Putin is seeking political legitimacy through this election. «The State Duma elections give the Kremlin a chance to manufacture the appearance of public support… not only for United Russia, but for continuing Putin's aggression in Ukraine,» she said. «When the battlefield gets harder to sell, the ballot box becomes another way to sell the war.»
