MOSCOW, Sept 19 (Reuters) – Russian authorities reported attacks on voting systems and communication lines across the country on Saturday, the second day of a September 18-20 parliamentary election that Moscow is treating as a test of public support for the war in Ukraine.
The State Duma election, the first since Russia launched its full-scale war in February 2022, is widely expected to see the ruling pro-Putin United Russia party retain its dominance in Russia’s tightly controlled political system.
Most anti-war candidates were excluded from the ballot before voting across Russia’s 11 time zones got under way, after the Supreme Court ruled last month that the liberal Yabloko party — which wants a ceasefire in Ukraine — had breached electoral rules, something it denied.
Some Yabloko candidates, however, are still contesting single-member constituencies, which account for half of the 450 seats in the lower house of parliament. The party has traditionally polled in the single digits.
On Saturday authorities said the online voting system in Moscow had been subjected to a strong attack overnight, but said the situation was under control.
The attacks were continuing, Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova was cited as saying by state media, but all were being successfully repelled.
Russia’s digital ministry said it had registered a sabotage attempt on communication lines in the country’s Far East, but that the attack had been thwarted and all communication had been restored, state media reported.
President Vladimir Putin earlier accused Ukraine of trying to interfere with the vote, without providing evidence.
Nationwide turnout as of 1400 local time on Saturday (1100 GMT) stood at 32.58%, according to CEC data cited by state media.
In Moldova’s separatist pro-Russian Transdniestria region, the election triggered a diplomatic dispute with Chisinau over its objections to the Kremlin’s plan to open 15 polling stations for Russian nationals there.
Moscow says the 220,000 residents of Transdniestria, a sliver of land which broke away from Moldova in 1990 at the end of Soviet rule, hold Russian passports and are entitled to vote.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Jan Harvey and Ros Russell)
