United Russia projected to deepen its control of parliament

Near-complete results from Russia’s parliamentary election put the ruling United Russia party on course for 355 of the State Duma’s 450 seats, according to the electoral commission. The vote was the first for the chamber since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and included ballots in Ukrainian regions Moscow claims to have annexed, which Kyiv rejects. The projected majority would give the Kremlin aligned party even firmer control of legislation. Independent opposition had faced severe restrictions before the vote.