Vladimir Putin’s party has won with a record majority, but the big question hanging over his political system is: how will power be transferred when he leaves the Kremlin?

United Russia has won again. With nearly all ballots counted, Vladimir Putin’s party polled 57.83 per cent, up from 49.8 per cent in 2021, and is set for about 355 of the 450 Duma seats, up from 324.

That is a two-thirds constitutional majority and the biggest haul in the party’s history. Turnout was 59.3 per cent. Putin had cast the vote as a test of support for the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin will now call the result an answer. It was not an election in any sense that matters. A real election is a contest whose outcome is unknown until the votes are counted. This one was settled before........

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