Ella Pamfilova announced Monday. The result surpassed the party's previous record of 343 seats, giving it the power to amend the constitution if needed. The vote was the first parliamentary election since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in 2022. No parties critical of the Kremlin or the war were permitted to participate; the only party calling for an end to the conflict was removed from the ballot, and criticism of the military campaign remains banned. The Kremlin framed the outcome as evidence of national unity. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the indicators "point to the highest level of consolidation within Russian society around the head of state”. Elections under Putin are heavily managed, and few doubted United Russia would prevail. Putin had urged Russians to vote in support of troops, and Moscow also organized voting in occupied Ukrainian territory. Turnout was reported at over 59 percent. The result is expected to further tighten Putin's grip on power, now in its fifth year of war. Some Russians fear a new military mobilization; Putin denies one is planned, while Kyiv accuses Moscow of preparing a callup. The Communist Party came second with 40 seats, followed by the nationalist LDPR (25) and New People (20). Regional elections also took place, with Chechnya's Ramzan Kadyrov winning 99.85 percent of the vote. Kyiv launched its largest drone attack of the war on the final day of voting, killing two people and setting an oil refinery ablaze. Pamfilova thanked Russians for voting despite "psychological pressure" and praised security services for ensuring the election proceeded. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas dismissed the vote as a "so-called" election, saying the Kremlin "silenced dissent, barred the only registered party that opposed its war in Ukraine, and shut out international election monitors. The veneer of democracy is all that remains in Russia." Putin's opponents remain in exile, prison, or dead, including Alexei Navalny, who died in an Arctic prison in 2024. (Bssnews)