Updated

Following Russia's September 18-20 State Duma elections, independent analysts and outlets including Novaya Gazeta Europe, Carnegie Politika and TV Rain reported large-scale fraud: official turnout was put at 59% by the Central Election Commission, but experts estimated actual turnout at around 40%. Analysts said tally sheets in Moscow were being rewritten 'on a large scale,' and the party A Just Russia was allegedly handed roughly 60,000 extra votes to avoid missing the parliamentary threshold. Statistical analysis suggested ruling party United Russia, officially credited with nearly 58% and a record majority, would have won only about 34% without ballot stuffing. Activists in St. Petersburg, Perm, Izhevsk and Kazan filed for protests against the fraud, while opposition party Yabloko faced heavy pressure, having its federal list and most regional lists removed from the ballot. The Kremlin cast the vote as a test of public support for the war in Ukraine.