Kremlin-backed United Russia takes lead in early Russia election results

Early results from Russia's first wartime parliamentary election, released by the country's election commission early Monday, showed the main Kremlin party dominating the vote.

The tightly controlled balloting was virtually devoid of opposition to President Vladimir Putin's policies and all but certain to cement the Kremlin's dominance.

With some 58% of the precincts counted, United Russia had nearly 58% of the vote for the 225 deputies apportioned by party lists, according to the Central Election Commission.

Another 225 lawmakers will be chosen in single-seat races, and United Russia also was poised to win most of those.

The balloting included residents of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed after the war began, but still doesn't fully control, as well as those in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, in what Kyiv denounced as illegal and the European Union described as a “blatant violation of international law”.

Success in the polls by United Russia, backed by President Vladimir Putin, will help the Kremlin keep its tight grip on power.

The vote, which saw most opposition barred from running, took place against the backdrop of the harshest political crackdowns and freedom of speech in Russia since Soviet times.

The early results showed four other parties that almost always vote for Kremlin initiatives returning to the State Duma, the lower chamber of parliament.