Russia reports cyberattacks on electronic voting during parliamentary election
Russian officials said Moscow’s electronic voting system remained operational during an attack whose origin and impact have not been established.
Russian authorities have reported large-scale cyberattacks on Moscow’s electronic voting system and attacks on communication lines during the second day of a tightly controlled three-day election for the State Duma.
Ella Pamfilova, head of Russia’s Central Election Commission, said the electronic voting system had been targeted continuously overnight and remained under intense attack on Saturday. She said the system was still operating normally, but officials did not identify those responsible or provide details about the nature of the attack.
The election will determine all 450 seats in Russia’s lower house and is scheduled to conclude at 18:00 GMT on Sunday. It is the first parliamentary vote since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Most antiwar candidates were excluded from the ballot, while the governing United Russia party is widely expected to retain its dominance. Ukraine has described the election as farcical.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of trying to hinder the vote, but the source package does not establish a link between Kyiv and the cyberattacks. Russian officials also reported that more than 350 Ukrainian drones targeted Moscow on Friday, without establishing a connection to the cyber incidents.
The Central Election Commission data cited by Russian state media put nationwide turnout at 32.58 per cent at 14:00 local time on Saturday. That figure, like the official accounts of the cyberattacks and alleged interference, has not been independently verified in the source material.
