Russia's ruling United Russia party has taken a commanding lead in the country's first parliamentary election since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to preliminary results released by Russian election authorities.
Early returns showed the Kremlin-backed party ahead in the party-list vote and constituency contests.
President Vladimir Putin presented the election as a demonstration of public support and national unity during the war.
But assessing what the result says about Russian public opinion requires understanding the political environment in which the election took place.
Where was the anti-war opposition?
Russia has significantly tightened restrictions on political dissent since invading Ukraine in February 2022.
Public statements authorities deem to discredit the armed forces can result in criminal prosecution.
Prominent critics of the war have been imprisoned, exiled or otherwise prevented from participating fully in political life.
That means the election was not a straightforward test between pro-war and anti-war political alternatives.
The Kremlin says restrictions are necessary during wartime and argues that Western governments are engaged in confrontation with Russia.
Opponents argue the restrictions have severely narrowed competitive politics.
Voting in occupied Ukraine
Russia also organised voting in Ukrainian territories it occupies and claims to have annexed.
Ukraine and many other governments reject those annexations and do not recognise Russian elections conducted there.
That creates another major dispute over how the election should be internationally interpreted.
Then Moscow came under attack
The political symbolism of the final voting day became even more striking when Ukraine launched its largest drone assault on Moscow.
Russia vowed retaliation.
The combination of a wartime election and an unprecedented attack on the capital means Putin begins the new parliamentary term facing the same question that has dominated Russian politics since 2022:
How long can Moscow sustain the military, economic and political costs of the war?
The election result demonstrates United Russia's continued institutional dominance.
It does not, on its own, resolve the harder question of how Russians would vote under a political environment offering a broader range of alternatives.
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