Russia’s ruling party and candidates backed by the Kremlin were expected to win elections held in 85 regions across the country as well as parts of occupied Ukraine, preliminary results showed.
Voting for local mayors, local legislatures, regional governors, city councils, and even a handful of members of Russia's lower house of parliament wrapped up on September 10, the day designated for in-person ballot casting.
The elections come amid a struggling invasion with Ukraine and the worst political repression since Soviet times. Criticism of the war has been outlawed and opposition candidates largely banned, turning the elections into little more than a Kremlin propaganda exercise.
Experts described the election atmosphere as quiet as a graveyard. Citizens have grown alienated from Russian politics amid the repression.
United Russia, the ruling party, was winning local legislatures and city councils, while incumbent governors or candidates backed by the Kremlin were willing reelection generally with 70 percent or more of the vote.
In Moscow, incumbent Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, a Putin loyalist, had been declared the winner, leading with 64 percent of the vote. More than 80 percent of the votes for Moscow mayor were cast online.
Russia’s opposition has voiced concern over online voting due to the lack of transparency in a country known for manipulating elections.
Amid the steep political repression, few members of Russia’s opposition took part in monitoring the vote. They had played a critical role in monitoring past elections, catching large-scale falsification and spreading the message on social media.
SEE ALSO: Russia's Elections: Strong-Arming Occupied Ukraine And Clues To Putin's FutureRussia has recently sentenced several leading opposition figures to long-prison terms, including decades in some cases, largely decapitating their movement.
Many others have fled the country for fear of arrest.
Russia held elections in four Ukrainian regions it claimed last year to have annexed. Kyiv and Western nations have called the Kremlin’s elections in eastern and southern Ukraine "a sham."
Voting in the Ukrainian regions took place early and at home with armed men accompanying election officials along streets. Armed men were also at voting polls.
Moscow-installed local authorities urged people to vote for Putin’s United Russia.
At a meeting with parents, the head of a school in the Ukrainian occupied region of Donetsk called on those present to vote for the ruling party, saying it was “very important,” a local Telegram channel reported.
Meanwhile a chief doctor at a hospital in occupied Kherson largely said the same to his staff.
At home, Russian propaganda channels published interviews with monitors and election officials who praised the vote.