European Union dismisses Russia’s ‘so-called’ elections

Russian President Vladimir Putin Photo by Vyacheslav OSELEDKO / AFP.

EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas on Monday dismissed Russia’s parliamentary elections as a “veneer” of democracy, and said she was proposing sanctions on those who helped hold them in occupied Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia won a large majority against token opposition, with no party contesting Moscow’s war against Ukraine allowed to run.

“The so-called Duma elections marked another major setback for Russian democracy. Their outcome was never in doubt,” Kallas wrote on X.

“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.”

Kallas said she had “proposed measures against those facilitating these sham elections in occupied Ukrainian territories”.

The EU has already sanctioned some 3,000 officials and entities over the war on Ukraine, including Putin.