Russia's new State Duma includes 49 war veterans from Ukraine conflict

Russia's new State Duma will include 49 lawmakers who participated in the war against Ukraine, according to The Guardian, citing officials. The pro-Kremlin United Russia party won a record 355 seats in the 450-seat lower house, strengthening Vladimir Putin's power. The result exceeds United Russia's previous record of 343 seats from 2016 and marks the first election since Putin's full-scale invasion in 2022. United Russia general secretary Vladimir Yakushev initially said 86 war veterans were elected but later revised the figure to 49. Western governments condemned the elections held on Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories as a "fiction." The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas called them "another serious blow to Russian democracy," noting the Kremlin suppressed dissent and barred international observers. All other parties winning seats support the war, including the Communists with 40 mandates.