DOMINANT ANGLE
Berlin denounces a "Scheinwahl" without real opposition, where the 57.5% obtained by United Russia primarily serves to confirm Vladimir Putin's war course, the Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow having only, according to the German press, highlighted the absence of any democratic choice.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
United Russia credited with 57.5% of the vote according to the Central Election Commission's partial results after counting 14% of the ballots (Handelsblatt)
- 02
The vote was held for the first time in the occupied Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, which the EU describes as a "flagrant violation of international law" (Handelsblatt)
- 03
Over 1,600 drones intercepted since Saturday, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, including 450 targeting the capital, and a refinery hit in Moscow (Tagesschau)
ANALYSIS
Berlin, September 21, 2026. For the German press, the Russian legislative election that ended on Sunday was never an open election. The FAZ speaks of a "Scheinwahl", a sham election according to "a script written by the Kremlin", where the ruling party United Russia wins "as always". According to the partial results of the Central Electoral Commission, cited by Handelsblatt after counting 14% of the ballots, United Russia obtains 57.5% of the votes. The Communists would follow with 13.6%, the nationalist LDPR with 9.2%, New People with nearly 8% and Fair Russia with 5.1%, according to the projections relayed by Tagesschau. The five parties already present in the Duma all support, the public channel emphasizes, "the war of aggression against Ukraine". The chairwoman of the electoral commission, Ella Pamfilova, announced that the final results would not be known until September 25 at the earliest. Tagesschau recalls that candidates in favor of a peace settlement were excluded from the ballots, and that observers reported "attempts at manipulation and other violations of the rules".
A unprecedented fact noted by the FAZ and Handelsblatt: the vote was held for the first time in the occupied Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, as well as in Crimea, annexed in 2014. The European Union sees this, according to Handelsblatt, as "a blatant violation of international law"; Kyiv denounces a vote "under the threat of guns" and refuses to recognize the result.
The last day of the election coincided with what Moscow calls its largest attack by Ukrainian drones: more than 1,600 devices intercepted since Saturday, according to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, including 450 targeting the capital, and a refinery that was hit which had processed 11.6 million tons of oil in 2024. In Ramenskoye, 400 people, including 70 children, were evacuated from a 21-story building. Two deaths are reported in the Moscow region, two others in occupied Kherson, including an election observer. Sobyanin sees this as "a failed attempt to disrupt the elections", while Volodymyr Zelensky claims on X to have targeted infrastructure representing "billions of dollars that fuel the war machine".
SOURCES (3)
- FAZMEDIUM
- HandelsblattMEDIUM
