Russia is preparing to falsify voting in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine during its Duma, the Russian federal legislature’s lower house, elections in September, with voting statistics for turnout and percent support for Putin’s political party determined before election day.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, said Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s administration had instructed occupation authorities to report turnout of more than 65% to 70% and at least 70% support for the ruling United Russia party.
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“The Putin administration has set the task of ensuring turnout in the temporarily occupied territories at more than 65% to 70%,” Kovalenko wrote.
It also demands that United Russia receive no less than 70% support, he added.
Russia plans to hold State Duma elections from Sept. 18 to 20, including voting in parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions that Moscow occupies and claims to have annexed.
Ukraine rejects Russia’s authority over those territories and considers any voting organized there illegal. Moscow does not fully control any of the four regions it claims as its own.
According to Kovalenko, the Kremlin intends to use the voting to create an appearance of public support for Russia’s occupation and attempted annexation of Ukrainian territory.
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“The elections in the temporarily occupied territories are completely illegal, but Russia wants to use them to legitimize the occupation,” he said.
The Ukrainian official also linked the alleged plans to Russia’s increasingly pro-war political environment, claiming all parties permitted to contest the election support continuing military operations against Ukraine.
Russia’s Supreme Court on Monday barred the liberal Yabloko party from participating in the Duma election, overturning its registration days after it had been approved by the Central Election Commission.
The ruling followed a lawsuit filed by the pro-Kremlin nationalist Rodina party, which accused Yabloko of campaign violations, including receiving prohibited assistance.
Yabloko rejected the allegations and said it would appeal. Party chair Nikolai Rybakov said there were no legal grounds for its removal.
Yabloko was the only officially registered Russian party campaigning against the war. It called for a ceasefire and a transition to negotiations over Ukraine.
Kovalenko described the party’s exclusion as an attempt to prevent anti-war voters from demonstrating measurable support at the ballot box.
“This is further evidence that Putin’s regime does not see a future without war and is afraid to show support for anti-war sentiment,” he said.
He argued that opposition to continuing the war was growing in Russian regions and was also visible in Moscow, particularly amid reports of a possible new mobilization.
Those opposed to the war are not currently capable of organizing large street demonstrations, Kovalenko said. He compared the situation with the final years of the Soviet Union, when economic problems and private criticism of the authorities accumulated without immediately producing organized public protests.