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Russians began voting Friday in a tightly controlled three-day parliamentary election set to extend President Vladimir Putin's 26-year grip on power, as the country's online voting system in Moscow came under a "very powerful" cyberattack that election officials said was successfully repelled.
It is Russia's first parliamentary election since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, in a war now in its fifth year.
The European Union criticized the elections, saying "repression" had been used to eliminate opponents, while a Council of Europe body denounced the vote as "fake."
Central Election Commission head Ella Pamfilova said the Moscow voting system had been under continuous, intense attack overnight.
"According to updated information that has just come in, throughout the night, literally without interruption, the Moscow system was subjected to a very powerful attack. This attack continues almost constantly and is very large-scale and intensive," Pamfilova said, according to Russian state media.
"All attacks are being repelled, remote electronic voting in Moscow is operating normally," Pamfilova said.
"All technical specialists and voting organizers are keeping the situation under full control, and the system's security allows for continuity of voting," she added.
Russia's digital ministry separately said it had registered and thwarted a sabotage attempt targeting communication lines in the country's Far East, with all communications restored.
Pamfilova said security remained the top priority for the election, describing "unprecedented" measures taken jointly with law enforcement, other services and local authorities, including backup facilities and power sources, evacuation procedures, and the use of metal detectors at polling stations.
She said all forms of voting, including early voting, had been made available in Russia's border regions to reduce residents' exposure to the risk of Ukrainian attacks.
Russian president has accused Ukraine of attempting to interfere with the vote.
Separately, Pamfilova warned commission staff about the dangers of AI-generated deepfake videos during vote counting, showing examples including an AI-generated clip of rapper Kanye West "voting" at a polling station, alongside a video depicting an alien and an elderly woman with a hippopotamus.
"This is what is truly a danger and a threat," Pamfilova said, calling the deepfakes "pure virtual nonsense" and adding that such examples show how far human ingenuity has advanced in producing digital content.
She said she hoped humanity would not face the negative consequences of these technologies and would be able to reconsider their use in time.
Pamfilova had previously warned about the substitution of images and falsified footage from polling stations using AI, saying the threat has now advanced to the point where AI tools allow bad actors to fully replace live broadcast footage of what is actually occurring.
According to Russia's Central Election Commission, about 111 million people, including roughly 1.8 million registered voters abroad, are eligible to vote in the parliamentary elections, which are being held alongside gubernatorial races in eight regions, parliamentary elections in 39 regions, and local council elections in 10 regional capitals as part of Russia's "Single Voting Day."
Voting is taking place at polling stations and through Russia's remote electronic voting system, concluding at 8 p.m. local time Sunday across the country's 11 time zones.
Eleven political parties are competing for the Duma's 450 seats, split between party-list and single-member-constituency contests.
Besides the ruling United Russia party, the four parties currently holding Duma seats, the Communist Party, the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), A Just Russia-For Truth, and New People, are also running, along with five parties without current parliamentary representation.
The liberal Yabloko party, which called for an end to the war, was excluded from the party-list ballot shortly before the vote, though candidates it nominated in single-member constituencies remain on the ballot.
One of Yabloko's main figures, Lev Shlosberg, was imprisoned for criticizing the war.
The Kremlin published rare footage of the 73-year-old Putin voting online.
In a recent video address, Putin said participation in the vote would demonstrate unity and contribute to Russia's "victory" in the war, calling on Russians to deliver a "collective response to those who seek to weaken Russia, hold back its development, and deprive us of our sovereignty and the right to determine our own destiny."
Several voters told Agence France-Presse (AFP) they wanted the war to end, but on Russia's terms.
Rail worker Sergei Korenets, 41, said he would back United Russia for "stability," echoing Putin's campaign slogan. Asked whether four and a half years of war amounted to stability, he said: "Of course, I want all this (the war) to end as quickly as possible," while adding that he did not want change at home, saying: "I am satisfied from the point of view of my financial situation."
Despite sweeping Western sanctions, Russia's economy has not collapsed, and life in Moscow remains relatively normal even as the country bombards Ukrainian cities daily.
Lyubov, 55, told AFP: "I am fully for the special military operation," using the Kremlin's term for the war, adding: "NATO cannot be at our borders."
She nonetheless criticized Putin's earlier decision to raise the pension age, saying she wanted a "return to the Soviet economic system."
Yekaterina, 26, who has lived her entire life under Putin's rule, said: "I still trust my president," seeing no reason for political change.
Some Russians fear the period after the election could bring a new military mobilization, echoing the deeply unpopular 2022 call-up of 300,000 reservists that triggered a mass exodus of draft-age men.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused the Kremlin of planning a fresh mobilization drive, an allegation Putin has denied.
Ukrainian strikes have caused increasing disruption inside Russia this year, reaching as far as Siberia and the Urals.
Russia's exiled opposition, whose most prominent figures have largely been driven abroad since the death of Putin's main opponent, Alexei Navalny, in an Arctic prison in 2024, has urged anti-Kremlin Russians not to boycott the election but instead vote "against Putin's party."
Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, called on anti-war Russians to cast ballots at noon on Sunday in a coordinated show of dissent.
Yabloko disagreed with that strategy, arguing Russians should abstain.
"You are suggesting that we once again go, like sheep, dancing to their tune, and vote for those who have caused the deaths of people in Russia and Ukraine?" party chairman Nikolay Rybakov said this week.
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