Vladimir Putin opened the plenary session of the United Russia party congress in Moscow on Saturday, calling the party the country's leading political force before the results of the upcoming parliamentary elections were announced. According to the president, United Russia 'never gave empty, declarative promises', which is why it became the force that 'consolidates society'.
Putin said the upcoming vote would demonstrate the resilience of the Russian state and the maturity of its political system. He promised to hold elections 'on all territories of our country without exception'. Russian authorities include in this category the annexed Crimea and the occupied parts of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
A separate part of the president's speech was devoted to the war against Ukraine, which Russia calls a 'special military operation'. He again accused Kyiv of 'barbaric attacks' and linked Ukrainian strikes on Russia to the 'difficult situation for the enemy at the front'. According to him, much now depends on Russian soldiers and officers, 'on everyone who honestly works in their place to contribute to victory': 'I am confident our warriors will not let us down.' Putin ended his speech with the words 'victory will be ours'.
After Putin, United Russia chairman Dmitry Medvedev addressed the congress. He called Russia's 'enemies' 'aggressive, cynical scoundrels' and the Ukrainian authorities a 'gang of Christ-sellers' led by a 'drug addict', Vladimir Zelensky. Medvedev also promised that Russia would continue seizing Ukrainian territories, calling them 'previously accidentally' part of Ukraine.
The deputy chairman of the Security Council separately spoke about Russians who left the country. In his words, 'there is and can be no forgiveness for the scoundrels who left': 'They yap pitifully at our country, wishing it defeat in the war.' Medvedev said that 'such traitors have no and should have no right to return to their native country, no repentance will help here'. He compared those who left to 'cockroaches' that 'scattered into quiet corners and eke out an existence there in exile'.
Voting in the elections for the ninth convocation of the State Duma will take place on September 18, 19 and 20. The federal list of United Russia is headed by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, children's ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova, war correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny and the head of the Yunarmiya headquarters, Vladislav Golovin. Party chairman Dmitry Medvedev was not included in the list.
United Russia's rating, according to the Public Opinion Foundation, stood at 33% in mid-August — the minimum for all recent months. Earlier, the authorities lowered the target indicators for turnout and the party's result in the elections, the Vedomosti newspaper reported.
Russia did not invite international observers from the OSCE to the September elections. The organization said this would be the third consecutive nationwide vote in Russia that it would not be able to observe. The OSCE considers the holding of Russian elections in the occupied territories of Ukraine illegal.