International

EU decries Russian election as sham, Kallas urges sanctions

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas denounced Russia's parliamentary elections on Monday, calling the Kremlin-controlled ballot “a major new blow to Russian democracy” held without viable opposition or international observers.

Crackdown on dissent

Writing on X, Kallas stated that the outcome of the vote for the 450-seat State Duma “was never in doubt.” She emphasized that Russian authorities deliberately eliminated public criticism surrounding both domestic policies and Moscow's full-scale military aggression against Ukraine.

“The Kremlin has silenced dissent,” said Kallas, pointing out that election officials barred the liberal Yabloko party—the only registered political entity formally opposed to the war—from running national candidate lists.

Other participating political groups fully endorsed President Vladimir Putin's military campaign. Kallas also criticized Moscow's decision to ban independent monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), noting that “[the Kremlin] kept international election observers away.”

“The façade of democracy is all that remains in Russia,” Kallas wrote.

Sanctions over occupied territories

The legislative vote marked Russia's first national parliamentary ballot since launching its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Polling was also staged across Moscow-occupied parts of Ukraine, drawing international condemnation.

Kallas confirmed that Brussels plans to impose punitive measures against those orchestrating the ballots on sovereign Ukrainian land. “I have proposed measures against those facilitating these sham elections in occupied Ukrainian territories,” she said.

The ruling United Russia party maintained firm control of the Duma, extending its parliamentary dominance dating back to 2003 amid tight state oversight.

Translation by Iurie Tataru

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