A billboard in Moscow, Russia, on September 4, 2025. Russia’s latest elections are another example of Vladimir Putin’s Potemkin Village politics, writes Ilan Berman. (Shutterstock/Ultraskrip)

Don’t Be Fooled by Russia’s Latest Election Results

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Vladimir Putin’s victory at the polls should not be taken as evidence of widespread Russian satisfaction with the regime.

In Russia, we know elections are stage-managed affairs, with outcomes predetermined well in advance and then triumphantly presented as evidence of pluralism and representative government. That’s especially the case these days, because the Kremlin is at pains to demonstrate that Vladimir Putin’s war of choice against Ukraine—which has cost the country tremendously in both blood and treasure—remains a popular enterprise. 

That is why the outcome of Russia’s latest State Duma elections, held from September 18 to 20, was never really in doubt. 

Officially, Putin’s ruling United Russia party won nearly 58 percent of the vote, capturing 355 of the 450 seats in the Duma. Russia’s Communist Party came in a distant second at 13.81 percent, followed by the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia—which is anything but—at nearly 9 percent. The New People party took 7.96 percent, and the Just Russia party came in at just over five, barely clearing the legislative threshold needed for representation.

Those results........

© The National Interest