Putin's party set to retain power after Russia vote hit by cyberattacks, drones

Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party won a large majority in the country’s parliamentary elections, marked by cyberattacks and a barrage of Ukrainian drone strikes, according to results published by state media early Monday. The election, held to elect members in all seats of the lower house State Duma, is the first since Moscow launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. No party opposed to the war was allowed to run, with Russia’s Supreme Court removing the anti-war Yabloko party off the ballot weeks before the vote. Voting also took place in Ukrainian territories occupied and annexed by Russia. Turnout could offer a barometer of public opinion towards Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. According to results reported by Russian news agencies after just over 71 per cent of ballots were counted, United Russia took 57. 5pc of the vote.

The Communist Party and LDPR nationalists trailed behind on 14 and 8. 7pc respectively. The ruling party is on course to retain its two-thirds majority of the 450 seats in the State Duma, allowing it to amend the constitution, according to projections by the state agency TASS. The first official results and turnout will be expected on Monday morning. Ukraine fired waves of drones at Moscow and the surrounding region on the final day of voting on Sunday, killing two people and setting an oil refinery ablaze, officials said. Russia vowed it would “intensify” its strikes on Kyiv in response, with the defence ministry accusing Ukraine of attempting to “disrupt the democratic will of Russian citizens”. An exit poll published by a state-run pollster showed United Russia on course to win 49. 4pc of the vote, close to the same amount it achieved in the previous election. “In response to the Kyiv regime’s attacks on…