Russia reports ‘powerful’ cyberattacks on second day of parliamentary vote
News Source
•Sat, 19 Sep 2026 15:18:00 +0000
📰 What Happened
Russia says its voting systems faced strong cyberattacks on the second day of a three-day parliamentary election. Moscow's online voting system was hit overnight from Friday to Saturday. Officials say the attack is still going on.
Ella Pamfilova, who runs Russia's Central Election Commission, said the attack was non-stop and very large. She said the site is still working and did not say who was behind it.
The vote will fill all 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament. It runs until Sunday evening.
🔍 The Backstory
This is the first State Duma election since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Most anti-war candidates were kept off the ballot. The Supreme Court barred the Yabloko party last month.
President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine was trying to block the vote. Ukraine has called the election a sham. Moscow's mayor said more than 350 Ukrainian drones flew toward the city on Friday.
Officials said turnout reached 32.58 percent by early Saturday afternoon.
🎯 Why It Matters
This vote is watched for signs of how Russians feel about the war. Cyberattacks on voting systems also worry voters everywhere, because trust in election results is hard to rebuild.
Russia says its voting systems faced strong cyberattacks on the second day of a three-day parliamentary election. Moscow's online voting system was hit overnight from Friday to Saturday. Officials say the attack is still going on.
Ella Pamfilova, who runs Russia's Central Election Commission, said the attack was non-stop and very large. She said the site is still working and did not say who was behind it.
The vote will fill all 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament. It runs until Sunday evening.
This is the first State Duma election since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Most anti-war candidates were kept off the ballot. The Supreme Court barred the Yabloko party last month.
President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine was trying to block the vote. Ukraine has called the election a sham. Moscow's mayor said more than 350 Ukrainian drones flew toward the city on Friday.
Officials said turnout reached 32.58 percent by early Saturday afternoon.
This vote is watched for signs of how Russians feel about the war. Cyberattacks on voting systems also worry voters everywhere, because trust in election results is hard to rebuild.