Putin Accuses Ukraine as Russia Reports Cyberattacks During Duma Election Second Day

Russia reported multiple cyberattacks on voting systems and communication lines as Russians voted in a three-day parliamentary election running from September 18 to 20.

“Voting in Russia's parliamentary election runs from September 18 to 20.”

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Ella Pamfilova, head of Russia’s Central Election Commission, said the online voting system in Moscow was subjected to a strong attack overnight but that the situation remained under control, with attacks continuing but being successfully repelled.

ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Russian digital ministry also said it registered a sabotage attempt on communication lines in the country’s Far East, but that the attack had been thwarted and all communication had been restored.

President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of trying to interfere with the vote, without providing evidence, as the election entered its second day.

The election is described as a test of public support for the war in Ukraine, with the State Duma vote expected to decide all 450 seats in Russia’s lower house.

As the second day of voting continued, Pamfilova told state media that “This attack is ongoing — it is happening practically non-stop,” while also saying the Moscow system was under continuous, intense attack overnight.

The Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of trying to “hinder” the vote, an accusation that the article says Kyiv has not responded to, and Ukraine called the election farcical.

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that there was no independent confirmation of the attacks on September 19, while Pamfilova claimed attempted disruptions had been thwarted.R

In the same reporting, Russia’s Digital Ministry said it reported attempted sabotage on a communication line in the country’s Pacific regions but that there were no disruptions to voting.

The vote is also framed as the first parliamentary vote since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with officials saying around 33 percent of eligible voters had cast ballots as of midday September 19.

Beyond the cyberattacks, the election triggered a diplomatic row with Moldova over plans to open polling stations for Russian nationals in the separatist Transnistria region.

“Moscow says 220,000 residents of pro-Russian Transnistria”

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Moscow said 220,000 residents of pro-Russian Transnistria hold Russian passports and are entitled to vote on Sunday in the election for the State Duma, while Moldova’s pro-Western government said Russians may vote only in a single polling station in the Russian embassy in the capital Chisinau.

Moldovan authorities denounced the Kremlin’s 15 planned polling stations as “unacceptable and hostile,” and Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova urged Moldova to drop its objections and halt actions that “run against democracy, international law and common sense”.

The election is described as being shadowed by war, with the Kremlin likely to cite the result as evidence of widespread public support for Mr Putin’s policies, in particular the invasion of Ukraine.

The reporting also says most anti-war candidates have been barred from participating, and that officials results were not expected before late September 21 at the earliest.