Putin's party wins record supermajority in Russian election

President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party won a record supermajority in the Duma after a tightly controlled three-day election, with authorities banning criticism of the military campaign and barring the anti-war Yabloko party from federal Parliament. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov cited the results as evidence of societal consolidation around Putin, who encouraged voting in support of troops in Ukraine, including in occupied territories. Election chief Pamfilova reported turnout above 59%, despite a major Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow on the final voting day that killed two people. Yabloko unexpectedly entered the Novgorod regional Parliament with about 12,000 votes, while the Communist Party took 40 Duma seats. The EU and five countries including the UK condemned the vote as a “sham,” and many of Putin’s serious political opponents remain in exile, prison, or dead.