Putin Pledges Ukraine War Victory 1 Month Before Russia's Sept. 18-20 Election
Updated
Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 22
Putin Pledges Ukraine War Victory 1 Month Before Russia's Sept. 18-20 Election
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 22
Summary
One month before Russia's Sept. 18-20 parliamentary election, Vladimir Putin used a United Russia conference in Moscow to cast victory in Ukraine as dependent on national unity and the army.
Dmitry Medvedev reinforced that message, saying Russia would reclaim more territory and claiming Ukraine had already lost 20% of its land and half its population.
The conference tied the vote closely to the war: Putin praised United Russia as the country's leading force and sought a high-turnout endorsement of the Kremlin's strategy.
10 parties remain on the ballot after anti-war Yabloko was removed, leaving only parties that back the war.
For the first time, residents in Russian-controlled parts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya are being called to vote, extending Moscow's push to cement its annexation claims.