Hi, this is Verstka’s politics desk. Over the past weekend we worked on a topic that, in a normal political system, would have been the main one for a desk like ours

Hi, this is Verstka’s politics desk. Over the past weekend we worked on a topic that, in a normal political system, would have been the main one for a desk like ours: elections to the country’s federal parliament. In the current situation, as they say, there are a number of nuances.

We have already told you that elections matter in an autocracy not as a democratic procedure, but as a ritual, and that this ritual matters to the system itself. This time, the system decided to become part of a larger system and show the whole world that there is no war fatigue and that Russians are ready to keep doing what the authorities tell them to do.

So does the illusion of nationwide support give Vladimir Putin and his circle carte blanche for some decisive steps? Yes, of course it does. We write that those who voted were largely a dependent electorate, state employees. But here is the nuance: many of them were not being stood over and ordered to vote for United Russia. Showing up at the election and reporting back, yes. Sending a screenshot was no longer quite as universal (this is also in our text).

Why? Because “they understand everything themselves.” Many fear that their choice will become known (and that they will be punished for the “wrong” one); others read the call to vote specifically as “vote correctly.” And that means these people will not be surprised if the authorities order them to do something else. They are ready to hear an order (which does not mean they will be happy about it!).

We understand that many people may be frustrated right now; that has been a fairly typical mood after elections for many years. There is no point in getting upset: with a procedure like this, fundamental changes are impossible by definition, which means none of us has lost anything. We take part in it in order to record that a flagrant violation is taking place and we are not letting anyone pretend this is how it should be.

And what exactly we recorded during the 2026 single voting day, read in our article on Verstka’s website. It is already history. With a VPN:

Link not working? Read it here.

😘 This text was made possible thanks to reader support. If it matters to you that Verstka keeps working — support us

Verstka

“You can’t overdo it in the fifth year of the war.” Why United Russia received more votes in the elections than before the attack on Ukraine

Electronic system failures, a fight over paper ballots, hundreds of barred observers, ballot stuffing, and coercion of state employees: the picture of the 2026 elections