Putin's party wins election in which no one could run against Putin

Putin's party has secured a comfortable majority in the Russian Duma, though the word "comfortable" seems almost modest here: with more than 95 percent of the votes counted, United Russia stood at 57.83 percent, which is expected to translate into 355 of the 450 parliamentary seats. That is already a constitutional majority. The election commission reported a turnout of 59.3 percent, and Putin had described the vote in advance as a test of support for the war against Ukraine. The test succeeded: he appointed the examination board, wrote the questions himself, and kept anyone who might give an unwelcome answer out of the room.

The only registered anti-war party, Yabloko, had its candidates removed from the national party list, and many of its individual candidates were also barred from running. There was, of course, a choice among the other contenders: one could vote for the Communists, the ultranationalist LDPR, or New People, all of which consistently voted alongside Putin's party on key issues. The difference between them lies only in which side they lick Putin's boots from and which party badge they wear while doing it. Yabloko is expected to enter the regional parliament of Novgorod Oblast — that is as much as Russians voting against the war managed to achieve where the party was actually allowed on the ballot. Not even the staging was taken particularly seriously. Russia did not invite OSCE observers, and the European Union condemned not only the exclusion of the democratic opposition but also the fact that Moscow held "elections" in the occupied Ukrainian territories as well. Holding a vote for one's own parliament on land seized from another country: it would be hard to illustrate more succinctly what the Kremlin understands by the will of the people.

The result shows exactly what this whole three-day performance was staged for: the Duma will continue to vote for precisely whatever Putin puts in front of the deputies.

Disgrace