Russian voters went to the polls on Friday, September 18, for the first day of legislative elections, which will continue through Sunday. President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party is expected to win. These are the first elections since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Elections are also being held in territories of eastern Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed.
The vote will show how Russians feel about a war that has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries and continues to affect daily life. Ukraine has increased long-range attacks on energy infrastructure and private companies, causing civilian deaths, fuel shortages, and billions of rubles in damage. The Russian opposition in exile, which has been banned from the elections, has called on “Russians opposed to the war” to vote against United Russia at noon on September 20 to show how many people oppose Putin’s party.
Another major concern is the possibility of a new mobilization, similar to the 2022 “partial mobilization” of 300,000 reservists. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that a new mobilization could be announced “in the autumn,” after the elections. Putin and his government have repeatedly denied that this will happen. The possibility of another mobilization remains unpopular in Moscow.
Reference
Le Monde, “Législatives en Russie: les électeurs appelés aux urnes, pour la première fois depuis le début de la guerre en Ukraine,” published September 18, 2026. https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2026/09/18/legislatives-en-russie-les-electeurs-appeles-aux-urnes-plus-de-quatre-ans-apres-le-debut-de-la-guerre-en-ukraine_6776825_3210.html