Russia’s ruling party headed for a resounding victory in local elections Sunday, which represent a dry run for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s re-election next year and an attempt to tighten the country’s grip on occupied areas of Ukraine.
Voters in 85 regions cast their ballots for a range of regional and municipal offices. Russian authorities also held elections in the four Ukrainian regions Moscow annexed a year ago — Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson — in illegal referendums.
Early results show United Russia, Putin's party, is leading in most regional parliament votes while Kremlin-backed candidates are winning governor elections in almost all regions. Putin voted electronically on Saturday in an election where long-time ally Sergei Sobyanin was seeking a new term as mayor, Russian media reported. Sobyanin leads the race after an online vote count, according to Tass.