Main Kremlin Party Keeps Control       09/21 06:06

   The main Kremlin party retained its majority in Russia's parliament, 
election officials said Monday, after a carefully orchestrated balloting that 
excluded most opposition candidates and helped the government maintain its 
tight grip on power.

   (AP) -- The main Kremlin party retained its majority in Russia's parliament, 
election officials said Monday, after a carefully orchestrated balloting that 
excluded most opposition candidates and helped the government maintain its 
tight grip on power.

   Results from over 95% of the polling stations gave the Kremlin's United 
Russia party just under 58% of the vote for the 225 seats apportioned by 
parties, according to the Central Election Commission. Another 225 lawmakers 
were chosen in single-ballot races, and the results showed United Russia 
candidates leading in 208 of those races.

   Central Election Commission chair Ella Pamfilova said the preliminary 
results indicated that United Russia would get 355 seats out of 450, a record 
high for the party, if confirmed.

   It was the first parliamentary election since President Vladimir Putin 
launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the first to include 
residents of four regions of that country that were seized and illegally 
annexed by Moscow later that year. Voting also was held in Crimea, which was 
illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Kyiv denounced the voting in those regions 
as illegal.

   Crackdown on dissent and tight control of media

   The Kremlin tightened its crackdown on opposition ahead of the election, 
including barring Russia's only liberal, anti-war party from the ballot and 
allowing it to compete only in single-ballot races.

   Along with United Russia, several other parties that almost always vote for 
Kremlin initiatives also won seats in the State Duma, the lower house of 
parliament. A handful of seats will go to several candidates who ran without a 
party affiliation in single-ballot races, according to preliminary results.

   The Kremlin has sought the parliamentary election to showcase popular 
support for the war, and strove to avoid political risks by stamping out any 
dissent.

   A massive state media campaign and tight control over the election in the 
absence of genuine opposition left little doubt that Kremlin will keep tight 
control of Russian politics as economic costs rise and Ukrainian drone attacks 
increase deep inside the country.

   Voters cast two separate ballots over three days, from Friday to Sunday, 
filling half of the Duma's 450 seats by selecting political parties listed on 
the ballot. The rest were contested in single-seat constituencies, with voters 
choosing individual candidates.

   Electronic balloting was available in many regions and encouraged by 
authorities. Critics said it made it easier for the government to control the 
outcome of the vote.

   Pamfilova said turnout was just over 59% -- the highest in a parliamentary 
election in over a decade. The final results will be announced Friday. she said.

   Criticism of war was silenced

   The liberal Yabloko party, the only registered political entity that dared 
to publicly criticize the war, was removed from the ballot last month by 
Russia's Supreme Court, and only has a few dozen candidates in the 
single-constituency races. Additionally, some anti-war politicians were 
imprisoned or forced to flee abroad ahead of the campaign.

   Yabloko and the Communist Party, which has criticized some aspects of 
government policy but carefully avoided any criticism of Putin, said many of 
their observers were turned away from polling stations.

   Russia didn't invite observers from the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe, with the Russian Foreign Ministry accusing the body of 
"double standards" for its criticism of Russia. OSCE Parliamentary Assembly 
President Pere Joan Pons said that the decision was a breach of Russia's 
commitments as a member state of the organization.

   At one polling station in the Russian-held part of the Donetsk region, 
voters dropped their ballots in a box as an armed Russian soldier stood nearby 
and watched.

   Ukrainian attacks bring the war home

   The election took place against the backdrop of incessant Ukrainian drone 
attacks. On Sunday, Russia's Defense Ministry reported that its air defenses 
downed a total of 1,110 Ukrainian drones overnight across Russia, as well as 
over the annexed Crimea and the Black Sea.

   Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said hundreds of drones targeted the Russian 
capital, and described it as "the largest ever" attack on the city. The Moscow 
Oil Refinery was hit, he said, and so was another building.

   Three people were killed in the wider Moscow region, local Gov. Andrei 
Vorobyov said. A total of 38 others were injured and received medical 
treatment, according to Russia's Health Ministry.

   Ukraine's long-range drone strikes over the summer pounded oil refineries, 
triggering a widespread fuel crisis, and set ablaze sprawling warehouses of 
online retailers Wildberries and Ozon, bringing the war home for millions of 
Russians like never before.