United Russia, the party of the president, enters the contest for 450 parliamentary seats with a 23 year majority. The Russian Supreme Court excluded the Yabloko party from the ballot in August and sentenced one of its leaders to 11 years in prison, ensuring every listed group on the ballot backs the invasion of Ukraine.

Voting runs from September 18 to 20 and includes contests in occupied Ukrainian territories managed by security services. The Kremlin is prioritizing turnout to avoid signals of domestic discontent while growth crawls at 0-1% and retail fuel shortages cause gas lines that stretch for hours. Official election debates were canceled after candidates failed to appear.