Russia reports ‘powerful’ cyberattacks on second day of parliamentary vote

This is Russia’s first election since it invaded Ukraine, and is expected to gauge public support for the ongoing war.

Russian authorities ⁠have reported attacks on ⁠the country’s voting systems and communication lines on the second day of a tightly controlled three-day-long parliamentary election.

Moscow’s electronic voting system was subjected to a powerful cyberattack overnight between Friday and Saturday, and the attack has continued, Interfax news agency reported.

“The Moscow system was under a very powerful attack, literally non-stop, all night long,” Ella Pamfilova, head of the Russian Central Election Commission, told reporters on Saturday morning. “This attack is ongoing almost constantly, and it’s very large-scale and intense, meaning it’s currently targeting Moscow.”

Pamfilova said the electronic voting system is still operating as normal, and did not give details on the nature of the attack or who was responsible.

The election, which will decide all 450 seats in Russia’s lower house, the State Duma, is due to run until 18:00 GMT on Sunday.

The State Duma election is the first since Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine in February 2022, and is widely ⁠expected to see the governing pro-Putin United Russia party maintain its dominance in Russia’s tightly controlled political system.

Most antiwar candidates were excluded from the ballot before voting across Russia’s 11 time zones got under way, after the Supreme Court ruled last month that the ‌liberal Yabloko party – which wants a ceasefire in Ukraine – had breached electoral rules, which it has denied.

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine on Friday of trying to “hinder” the vote, an accusation to which Kyiv has not responded. Ukraine has called the election farcical.

More than 350 Ukrainian drones targeted the Russian capital on Friday morning, Moscow’s mayor reported.

With the vote potentially offering the Kremlin a measure of the public mood over the invasion, Kyiv has maintained its bid to use air attacks to make Russians feel the impact of the conflict politically, socially, and economically.

Nationwide turnout as of 14:00 local time on Saturday (11:00 GMT) stood at 32.58 percent, according to CEC data cited by state media.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told Russian state news agency TASS that Russians are showing active participation in the ongoing State Duma elections despite physical threats and cyber challenges. She said that the high voter turnout shows people’s united response to the war declared against Russia and its people.