Putin-backed United Russia party wins record 355 seats in State Duma elections

Moscow [Russia], September 21 (ANI): Russia's ruling United Russia party has secured a dominant position, claiming a record 355 seats in the 450-seat State Duma following a three-day national election, according to preliminary results reported by Euronews.
The electoral contest marks the first parliamentary vote conducted since Moscow launched its full-scale military campaign in Ukraine in 2022.
With nearly all ballots processed and an absence of opposition parties critical of President Vladimir Putin on the ballot, the ruling formation has achieved a supermajority that surpasses its previous 2016 milestone of 343 seats.
Electoral chief Ella Pamfilova announced that voter turnout exceeded 59 per cent, expressing gratitude to citizens for participating despite facing what she termed "psychological pressure" directed at the nation, as reported by Euronews.
In the distribution of other parliamentary positions, the Communist Party secured second place with 40 seats, while the nationalist LDPR claimed 25 seats and the New People party secured 20 seats.
United Russia has maintained political dominance since the early 2000s under President Putin, who has held power since New Year's Eve in 1999.
Pamfilova confirmed that over 95 per cent of votes have been tallied, with official final results anticipated later in the week, as detailed by Euronews.
Concurrently, the final day of voting on Sunday witnessed large-scale Ukrainian drone strikes targeting Moscow and the surrounding region, resulting in two fatalities and igniting an oil refinery fire, according to official reports highlighted by Euronews.
In retaliation, the Russian Defence Ministry vowed to intensify high-accuracy strikes against military targets in Kyiv, accusing Ukraine of seeking to "disrupt the democratic will of Russian citizens."
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated that the assault constituted the largest drone attack on the capital since the war began, involving approximately 1,600 drones, with 450 directed specifically at Moscow.
Visual footage captured significant structural damage to a multi-storey apartment building on the capital's periphery, alongside heavy black smoke rising from an oil refinery facility.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commended the operations, stating that "our long-range responses had a very significant impact in the Moscow region last night."
Amid escalating mutual bombardments, Zelenskyy held a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump, who has recently urged Kyiv to halt strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, with both leaders scheduled to meet in New York shortly, according to Euronews.
Throughout the war, Ukraine has utilised drone strikes against Russian infrastructure in response to sustained Russian aerial bombing campaigns targeting Ukrainian towns and cities.
During the final phase of voting, Pamfilova reported a sustained series of cyberattacks directed against election administration systems, noting that over 1,000 waves of DDoS attacks had targeted critical electoral infrastructure, as noted by Euronews.
While declining to name specific perpetrators, Pamfilova indicated that the operations were executed by "highly professional, well-coordinated groups using artificial intelligence tools."
Furthermore, officials warned that saboteurs had severed communication lines in Russia's Far East over the weekend in an apparent sabotage attempt to disrupt the electoral process. (ANI)