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United Russia, the party led by Vladimir Putin before his presidency, won 355 of 450 Duma seats. Photograph: Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool Sputnik Kremlin/AP     (putin-consolidates-grip-russia-ukraine-war-veterans-elected-duma.html#img-1)   View image in fullscreen       United Russia, the party led by Vladimir Putin before his presidency, won 355 of 450 Duma seats. Photograph: Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool Sputnik Kremlin/AP       (https://www.theguardian.com/world/russia) Russia     Putin consolidates grip on Russia as 49 Ukraine war veterans elected to parliament   United Russia party’s record victory in tightly controlled vote likely to be used as evidence of support for war against Ukraine         (https://www.theguardian.com/profile/lukeharding) Luke Harding and agencies   Mon 21 Sep 2026 09.40 EDT  Last modified on Mon 21 Sep 2026 15.28 EDT   (mailto:?subject=Putin consolidates grip on Russia as 49 Ukraine war veterans elected to parliament&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/21/putin-consolidates-grip-russia-ukraine-war-veterans-elected-duma?CMP=share_btn_url) Share          (https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=theguardian.com) Prefer the Guardian on Google          Russia’s new parliament will include 49 deputies who have taken part in the war against (https://www.theguardian.com/world/ukraine) Ukraine , officials have said after a landslide victory by the ruling United Russia party in widely criticised elections. The pro-Kremlin party won a record 355 seats in the country’s 450-seat Duma lower house of parliament, according to preliminary figures. The result further consolidates Vladimir Putin’s grip on power and gives United Russia a super-majority bigger than (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/19/russia-stays-loyal-kremlin-election-record-low-turnout) its previous 2016 record of 343 seats.  The polls are (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/18/russia-parliament-election-duma-putin) the first to be held since Putin’s 2022 full-scale invasion . United Russia’s general secretary, Vladimir Yakushev, said 86 veterans from Moscow’s “special military operation” were likely to have been elected. “This is quite a substantial contribution,” he said. He later revised the number to 49.       (Zaporizhzhia National University engulfed in flames during the night.)   (putin-consolidates-grip-russia-ukraine-war-veterans-elected-duma.html#img-2)   View image in fullscreen       As Russia counted the votes from its widely criticised election, Kremlin forces attacked targets in Ukraine, damaging the historic Zaporizhzhia National University.  Photograph: Ukrinform/Shutterstock  Putin’s press spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said the vote showed that Russians supported their longtime leader, (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/mar/27/russia.iantraynor1) who has ruled as prime minister or president since 2000 . “These indicators, of course, point to the highest level of consolidation within Russian society around the head of state,” Peskov said. Western governments denounced the polls held in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine as a “sham”. Russia’s supreme court last month banned the only party that opposes the war, Yabloko, from participating, leaving liberal voters with no option to express discontent. Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, called the election “another major setback for Russian democracy”. “The Kremlin silenced dissent and shut out international election monitors,” Kallas wrote on X, adding: “The veneer of democracy is all that remains.” The elections come amid (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/14/russia-ukraine-putin-recruiters-mobilisation) speculation that Putin may announce a large mobilisation campaign this autumn, in an attempt to inject fresh momentum to Russia’s bogged down military campaign. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has suggested the Kremlin wants to recruit another 300,000 troops.       (Two men in military uniform stand in front of building damaged in drone strike, in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia.)   (putin-consolidates-grip-russia-ukraine-war-veterans-elected-duma.html#img-3)   View image in fullscreen       Aftermath of a Russian drone attack in Zaporizhzhia. Photograph: Reuters  In recent months, Russia has escalated its bombardment, pummelling Kyiv and (https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2026/sep/18/fire-zaporizhzhia-mall-ukraine-russian-attack-video) other Ukrainian cities  with jet-powered attack drones. Ukraine has launched its own deep strikes, (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/20/hundreds-of-drones-target-moscow-on-last-day-of-voting-in-russias-parliamentary-election) hitting Moscow’s oil refinery on Sunday , as part of what Zelenskyy has dubbed “long-range sanctions”. Russia’s has also intensified its campaign to seize a string of cities in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, including Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. So far, it has been unable to break through, with Ukrainian commanders reporting their own counteroffensive near the city of Lyman. Inside Russia, criticism of the conflict is banned. Anti-war bloggers (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0n3y6ewn4o) have been arrested and jailed . A local politician, Boris Nadezhdin, who previously tried to stand in presidential elections on a peace ticket, was (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0n3y6ewn4o) barred from September’s elections and accused of being a “foreign agent”. The other parties that won seats in this month’s poll all support the “special military operation”. They include the communists, who came second with 40 seats, the ultra-nationalist LDPR party, with 25, and the New People party, with 20. Chechnya’s leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, a Putin ally, was re-elected and said to have won more than 99% of the votes.       (Firefighters are silhouetted in front of a burning shopping centre in Zaporizhzhia.)   (putin-consolidates-grip-russia-ukraine-war-veterans-elected-duma.html#img-4)   View image in fullscreen       A shopping centre, struck during Russia’s drone attack on in Zaporizhzhia. Photograph: Reuters/Stringer  Russia’s elections chief, Ella Pamfilova, said United Russia had won a resounding victory with 57.83%, with 95% of ballots counted, up from the 49.8% it won in the last parliamentary election, in 2021. She praised voters for resisting “psychological pressure”. Overnight, Russia carried out what Zelenskyy called a “brutal, targeted attack” on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia. He said a nine-storey residential building, a university building, a shopping centre, and a boiler house were all damaged, with five people injured. A woman in Kharkiv region was killed in a drone strike. Zelenskyy said: “Russia is not scaling back its escalatory actions and is signalling a readiness to expand the war. All this is happening against the backdrop of global stability already having been shattered by this war. We must continue to pressure the aggressor to bring this war to an end.”         Explore more on these topics (https://www.theguardian.com/world/russia) Russia  (https://www.theguardian.com/world/vladimir-putin) Vladimir Putin  (https://www.theguardian.com/world/europe-news) Europe  (https://www.theguardian.com/world/ukraine) Ukraine  (https://www.theguardian.com/world/volodymyr-zelenskiy) Volodymyr Zelenskyy  (https://www.theguardian.com/tone/news) news    (mailto:?subject=Putin consolidates grip on Russia as 49 Ukraine war veterans elected to parliament&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/21/putin-consolidates-grip-russia-ukraine-war-veterans-elected-duma?CMP=share_btn_url) Share     (https://syndication.theguardian.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2026%2Fsep%2F21%2Fputin-consolidates-grip-russia-ukraine-war-veterans-elected-duma&type=article&internalpagecode=world/2026/sep/21/putin-consolidates-grip-russia-ukraine-war-veterans-elected-duma) (Reuse this content) Reuse this content                  More on this story                        More on this story                       (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/20/hundreds-of-drones-target-moscow-on-last-day-of-voting-in-russias-parliamentary-election)    ()      Ukraine targets Moscow with hundreds of drones on final day of Russian election   (Sunday, September 20, 2026 at 10:44 AM Eastern Daylight Time) 1d ago           (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/20/the-rules-have-changed-has-russia-begun-to-order-assassinations-on-us-soil)    ()      ‘The rules have changed’: has Russia begun to order assassinations on US soil?   (Sunday, September 20, 2026 at 12:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time) 2d ago           (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/18/russia-parliament-election-duma-putin)    ()      Russians go to polls against backdrop of Ukraine war and Putin’s tightening grip   (Thursday, September 17, 2026 at 10:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time) 4d ago           (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/16/threat-britain-fake-democracy-russia-vladimir-putin)    ()      double quotation mark   To understand the threat to our real democracy, watch Putin’s fake one   (Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 12:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time) 6d ago  (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/16/threat-britain-fake-democracy-russia-vladimir-putin#comments)    … … comments            (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/13/putin-ukraine-nato-russia-forever-war-crime-against-humanity-western-democracies)    ()      double quotation mark   Putin would rather keep killing than admit he’s lost. As a winter of misery looms in Ukraine, Nato must step in   (Sunday, September 13, 2026 at 01:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time) 13 Sept 2026           (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/sep/11/putin-india-visit-brics-summit)    ()      Putin arrives in India for Brics summit set to be dominated by Iran and Ukraine wars   (Thursday, September 10, 2026 at 08:56 PM Eastern Daylight Time) 11 Sept 2026           (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/23/russia-withdraws-ambassador-uk-kremlin-pressure-ukraine-andrey-kelin)    ()      Russia withdraws ambassador to UK as Kremlin raises pressure over Ukraine support   (Sunday, August 23, 2026 at 09:01 AM Eastern Daylight Time) 23 Aug 2026           (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/26/putin-asks-oligarchs-to-donate-to-russias-dwindling-defence-budget)    ()      Putin asks oligarchs to donate to Russia’s dwindling defence budget   (Thursday, March 26, 2026 at 07:31 PM Eastern Daylight Time) 26 Mar 2026           (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/18/pro-kremlin-loyalist-turns-on-putin-ilya-remeslo-russia)    ()      ‘Put him on trial’: pro-Kremlin loyalist turns on Putin in rare outburst   (Wednesday, March 18, 2026 at 09:39 AM Eastern Daylight Time) 18 Mar 2026           (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/05/putin-vows-oil-shipments-to-india-will-be-uninterrupted-in-defiance-of-us)    ()      Putin vows oil shipments to India will be ‘uninterrupted’ in defiance of US   (Friday, December 5, 2025 at 08:38 AM Eastern Standard Time) 5 Dec 2025                        Most viewed      Most viewed                                                               (https://www.theguardian.com/world) World  (https://www.theguardian.com/world/europe-news) Europe   (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news) US news  (https://www.theguardian.com/world/americas) Americas  (https://www.theguardian.com/world/asia) Asia  (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news) Australia  (https://www.theguardian.com/world/middleeast) Middle East  (https://www.theguardian.com/world/africa) Africa  (https://www.theguardian.com/inequality) Inequality  (https://www.theguardian.com/global-development) Global development       (https://www.theguardian.com/) News  (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree) Opinion  (https://www.theguardian.com/sport) Sport  (https://www.theguardian.com/culture) Culture  (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle) Lifestyle    Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning (https://www.theguardian.com/info/2018/sep/17/guardian-us-morning-briefing-sign-up-to-stay-informed) Sign up for our email     (https://www.theguardian.com/info/about-guardian-us) About us  (https://manage.theguardian.com/help-centre) Help  (https://www.theguardian.com/info/complaints-and-corrections) Complaints & corrections  (https://www.theguardian.com/info/about-guardian-us/contact) Contact us  (https://www.theguardian.com/tips) Tip us off  (https://www.theguardian.com/securedrop) SecureDrop  (https://www.theguardian.com/info/privacy) Privacy policy  (https://www.theguardian.com/info/cookies) Cookie policy  (https://uploads.guim.co.uk/2026/07/22/STL_Global_Tax_Strategy_for_the_year_to_31_March_2027.pdf) Tax strategy  (https://www.theguardian.com/help/terms-of-service) Terms & conditions   (https://www.theguardian.com/index/subjects/a) All topics  (https://www.theguardian.com/index/contributors) All writers  (https://www.theguardian.com/email-newsletters?INTCMP=DOTCOM_FOOTER_NEWSLETTER_US) Newsletters  (https://theguardian.newspapers.com) Digital newspaper archive  (https://bsky.app/profile/us.theguardian.com) Bluesky  (https://www.facebook.com/theguardian) Facebook  (https://www.instagram.com/guardian) Instagram  (https://www.linkedin.com/company/theguardian) LinkedIn  (https://www.threads.com/@guardian_us) Threads  (https://www.tiktok.com/@guardian) TikTok  (https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGuardian) YouTube   (https://usadvertising.theguardian.com) Advertise with us  (https://www.theguardian.com/guardian-labs-us) Guardian Labs  (https://jobs.theguardian.com) Search jobs  (https://workwithus.theguardian.com/) Work with us  (https://www.theguardian.com/help/accessibility-help) Accessibility settings         (putin-consolidates-grip-russia-ukraine-war-veterans-elected-duma.html#top) Back to top      © 2026Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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