Putin consolidates grip on Russia as 49 Ukraine war veterans elected to parliament

United Russia party’s record victory in tightly controlled vote likely to be used as evidence of support for war against Ukraine

Russia’s new parliament will include 49 deputies who have taken part in the war against Ukraine, officials have said after a landslide victory by the ruling United Russia party in widely criticised elections.

The pro-Kremlin party won a record 355 seats in the country’s 450-seat Duma lower house of parliament, according to preliminary figures. The result further consolidates Vladimir Putin’s grip on power and gives United Russia a super-majority bigger than its previous 2016 record of 343 seats.