"United Russia" launched its election campaign based on support for Putin and the war - FIS
Kyiv • UNN
The ruling party of the Russian Federation approved candidates, betting on loyalty to Putin and the war. The party's rating fell to 33.8%, so the Kremlin plans to simulate a victory.
The ruling party "United Russia" has officially launched its election campaign for the State Duma elections of the Russian Federation, scheduled for September 18–20. The main elements of the campaign are personal loyalty to Vladimir Putin and support for the war against Ukraine. This is reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, as conveyed by UNN.
Details
According to the FIS, the first stage of the XXIII Congress of "United Russia" took place in Moscow, gathering nearly four thousand delegates and guests, including representatives from the regions, the government, deputies, senators, and participants in the war against Ukraine.
The main outcome of the event was the approval of candidates and party lists. The federal part of the list was presented by the party chairman Dmitry Medvedev. It included Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, Russian war correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny, the Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova, and the head of "Yunarmiya" Vladislav Golovin.
The FIS notes that even Russian experts call this configuration of the list symbolic. Lavrov is meant to embody confrontation with the West, Sobyanin - the administrative resource of large cities, Poddubny - military propaganda, Lvova-Belova - the social and humanitarian direction, and Golovin - the militarization of youth and the integration of war participants into the party system.
As reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service, the key messages of the campaign are built around personal support for Putin and justification of the war against Ukraine. Among the main slogans are "Being for Putin is the basic minimum," "Russia cannot be defeated on the battlefield," "Fighters of the 'SVO' are the true elite of Russia," and "Victory in the SVO is a condition for the security of the Fatherland."
At the same time, according to FIS information, despite the demonstration of unity, sociological indicators show a gradual decline in support for the ruling party. According to VTsIOM data from June 26, the rating of "United Russia" dropped to 33.8%, which is 1.7 percentage points less than a week earlier. The "New People" party has 12% support, the CPRF - 10.7%, and the LDPR - 9.4%.
The FIS noted that it was decided to conduct the election campaign in two stages. The first involves the approval of candidates and program positioning, while the second, which will begin on August 22, will end with the adoption of a new "People's Program," designed to mobilize voters with socio-economic promises.
The intelligence service emphasizes that in the Russian information space, the congress is already being linked to a decrease in the results expected by the Kremlin in the elections.
According to the FIS, this indicates that the Russian authorities no longer count on maximum support, but seek to ensure a controlled and plausible result using administrative resources, the cult of Putin, military rhetoric, and social promises.
The Kremlin is preparing not to win the elections, but to simulate a victory