Putin’s staged Duma vote mirrors North Korea’s sham elections, opposition urges boycott

The piece draws a parallel between Russia’s weekend Duma election and North Korea’s March parliamentary poll, emphasizing that both serve as staged legitimisation for authoritarian regimes. In Russia, United Russia dominates, while Kremlin-approved “systemic opposition” parties exist only to give an illusion of choice and generally support President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine. The Jabloko party, the sole openly anti-war faction, was removed from the ballot after the Kremlin feared its rising support.

Official surveys indicate low willingness to vote and widespread skepticism about electoral integrity, leading opposition figures such as Julija Navalnaja, Mihail Hodorkovski and Garri Kasparov to promote different protest tactics—from strategic voting for the strongest anti-United Russia candidate to spoiling ballots or full boycott. The article argues that Russia’s pseudo-democracy will only crumble if the war in Ukraine turns into a military defeat.