Russia claims over 100 million attempts to access election systems; 'no successful attacks'

Russian President Vladimir Putin [Getty Images]

Voter turnout in Russia's first general election since the country launched its so-called "special military operation" against Ukraine surpassed 50 percent.

Russian authorities also claimed that election systems had been subjected to more than 100 million unauthorized access attempts during the vote.

As of 6:05 p.m. Sunday (local time) — the final day of the three-day parliamentary election — turnout stood at 55.08 percent, Russia's Central Election Commission said, according to RIA Novosti, as reported by Yonhap.

The figure already exceeds the final turnout recorded in the previous three elections: 54.81 percent in 1993, 47.88 percent in 2016 and 51.72 percent in 2021, TASS reported.

The final turnout figure is expected to rise slightly, as polling stations in most regions remained open until 8 p.m.

The election was the first held since Russia launched its military offensive in Ukraine in February 2022.

If the ruling United Russia party and allied pro-Kremlin forces retain an overwhelming majority of seats, President Vladimir Putin's grip on power is expected to be further consolidated.

Central Election Commission Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova said the commission had blocked more than 100 million dangerous attempts to access election systems, and that an attempt to infiltrate communications networks using AI technology had occurred on the afternoon of Friday (local time). She alleged the intrusion attempt was the work of Ukraine.

"There were powerful attacks, but none of them were successful," she said.

Meanwhile, Leonid Volkov, a close associate of slain Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, raised doubts after reports emerged that ballot-issuance systems had malfunctioned at some polling stations and that voters were being directed toward electronic voting machines. On X, he urged voters to "demand paper ballots."

Putin: 'No one will succeed in undermining Russia's sovereignty'

Russia held a nationwide parliamentary election over three days beginning Friday (local time) to choose members of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, Yonhap reported.

State Duma members serve five-year terms. The previous election was held in September 2021.

The vote marked the first time residents of territories Russia has seized and annexed from Ukraine — including the Donbas region, encompassing the eastern Ukrainian areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, and Novorossiya, referring to areas along the Black Sea coast in southeastern Ukraine — participated in a Russian general election. Ukraine has maintained that the election is illegal.

In this year's election to fill all 450 seats in the lower house, United Russia and allied parties fielded a large number of veterans who had served on the front lines in Ukraine as candidates.

Of all candidates who entered the general election and various local elections, 1,668 were veterans of the "special military operation," Pamfilova said, according to TASS.

Earlier, on Sept. 16, Putin said of the election that "no one will succeed in undermining Russia's state sovereignty and its socio-political system," adding that "your choice and your will shall once again demonstrate that millions of our citizens support our soldiers and that we are a united people."

yul@heraldcorp.com