Putin's party wins Russian parliamentary election as Ukraine drones strike Moscow region

Vladimir Putin's United Russia party has won Russia's parliamentary election, with early results showing between 49.4 and 52.8 percent of the vote, according to state media and other projections. The victory was expected, as no genuine opposition parties were permitted to compete. During the final day of voting, Ukraine launched a massive drone attack on the Moscow region, which Mayor Sergei Sobyanin called an attempt to sabotage the election. Russia reported intercepting over 1,600 drones since Saturday, with two civilians killed and an oil refinery damaged. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the strike, citing multiple long-range weapon systems. The three-day election for the 450-seat State Duma was the first since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. All ten approved parties are considered Kremlin-aligned, and the anti-war Yabloko party was barred from participating. Russian elections have long faced criticism as unfair and undemocratic.