Russia claims cyberattacks on voting systems during parliamentary election

Russian authorities claimed on Sept. 19 that electronic voting systems and communications infrastructure had come under attack as the country entered the second day of its three-day parliamentary election.

Voting for the 450-seat State Duma began on Sept. 18 and runs through Sept. 20. It is Russia's first parliamentary election since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin-aligned United Russia party currently dominates the lower house of parliament.

Ella Pamfilova, head of Russia's Central Election Commission, said Moscow's online voting system had faced a major cyberattack overnight but that attempts to disrupt it were being repelled.

Moscow Oblast also came under a large-scale drone attack, with Russian air defenses  downing 249 drones overnight on Sept. 20, according to local authorities. The reported attacks could not be independently verified.

Russia's Digital Ministry separately reported an attempted act of sabotage against communications infrastructure in the country's Far East. Officials said the attempt had been stopped and communications restored without disrupting voting.

For the first time in a Russian parliamentary election, Moscow is also organizing voting in occupied parts of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts, territories Russia claimed to annex in 2022 despite not fully controlling any of them.

Russian authorities claim more than 3.5 million eligible voters live in the four occupied regions. Voting there began ahead of the nationwide election, with Russian officials citing security concerns for the extended timetable.

President Vladimir Putin had earlier accused Ukraine of attempting to interfere with the election, without providing evidence.

Russian election officials said turnout had reached about 33% nationwide by the afternoon of Sept. 19.

The vote is taking place amid severe restrictions on political opposition. Russia's Supreme Court in August removed the liberal Yabloko party from the nationwide party ballot after a legal challenge to its registration. Yabloko is the only registered Russian party that has openly opposed the war against Ukraine, although some of its candidates have remained in individual constituency races.

Ukraine has condemned the organization of Russian elections on occupied Ukrainian territory as illegal. Human rights activists have also reported pressure on residents to participate, including cases in which election officials were accompanied by armed personnel.

The European Union has said it will not recognize the election results from Russia-occupied Ukrainian territories, describing the voting there as a violation of international law.