In last week's regional elections in Russia, candidates supporting President Vladimir Putin reportedly achieved a large number of victories. This is seen as an indication that President Putin's approval remains steady amid the ongoing war with Ukraine, now in its third year.
According to RIA Novosti on the 9th, the United Russia party, the ruling party supporting President Putin, overwhelmingly won most of the elections. Although the official announcement from the Central Election Commission of Russia has not yet been released, the Russian daily Kommersant reported based on preliminary data that all incumbent governors seeking re-election and acting governors appointed by President Putin secured victories.
The elections included gubernatorial elections in 21 Russian regions, by-elections for the State Duma (lower house), and local council elections held simultaneously. With the 'special military operation' in Ukraine continuing for three years and battles having recently occurred in the border region of Kursk on Russian soil since last month, this election was regarded as a gauge of President Putin's approval.
In Kursk, where Ukrainian forces launched an offensive from the 6th of last month for over a month and captured some territory, TASS reported that Alexey Smirnov, the acting governor from United Russia, won with 65.3% of the vote. Due to the counter-terrorism operation regime and the federal state of emergency declared in Kursk, early voting was conducted from the 28th of last month to the 5th of this month. Additionally, 21 temporary polling stations were set up for residents displaced to temporary shelters.
The Kursk regional election commission announced via Telegram that despite these circumstances, the voter turnout for the Kursk gubernatorial election was 61.6%. Furthermore, in other border regions frequently targeted by Ukrainian drone attacks, such as Lipetsk and Bryansk, United Russia candidates are reported to have won or are leading.
Kommersant also reported that Dmitry Demesin, the United Russia candidate, was elected in Khabarovsk, where a Liberal Democratic Party candidate had won the governorship in 2018. Previously, Sergey Furgal of the Liberal Democratic Party, who became governor of Khabarovsk in 2018, was arrested in 2020 on charges including contract murder and was removed from office. This led to large-scale protests in Khabarovsk and other parts of Russia.
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