Russia’s State Duma Elections
Russia will hold elections on Sunday to its State Duma, the country’s lower house of parliament, in an atmosphere of economic distress, continuing military interventions in the Middle East and Ukraine, and evidence of corruption and criminality originating deep inside the Kremlin walls. While there is little doubt that the elections will achieve the purposes set for them by the Kremlin, questions loom about recent allegations of high-level corruption (in Russian) and their relationship to the election campaign, why the Kremlin chose this month to declare Russia’s only independent survey group a “foreign agent,” and the implications of the elections on annexed Crimea.
Pre-election Podcast: Power Vertical host Brian Whitmore and guests Mark Galeotti and Anna Arutunyan will discuss the outlook for the election during a podcast that will be posted tomorrow (Friday, September 16) on iTunes and The Power Vertical website.
Flash Analysis: On Sunday (September 18) at 3:30pm EDT / 21:30 CET, Whitmore will host a Facebook Live flash analysis on RFE/RL’s Facebook page as the polls close in Russia, with guests Mark Galeotti and “Current Time” journalist Andrei Cherkasov.
RFE/RL experts are available before, during, and after the polls:
Results and Implications of the Duma Elections
BRIAN WHITMORE, author of The Power Vertical blog and podcast
whitmoreb@rferl.org
+420.221.123.619
Duma Elections in Crimea
CHRISTOPHER MILLER, RFE/RL correspondent in Kyiv; has written on the pre-election harassment faced by Crimean residents.
millerjchristopher@gmail.com
+380.931.108.336
The View From Moscow
MIKHAIL SOKOLOV, veteran political correspondent for RFE/RL’s Moscow bureau
sokolovm@rferl.org
+7.903.743.2802
Regional Implications and Security
ANDREY SHARY, Director of RFE/RL’s Russian Service
sharya@rferl.org
+420.721.281.190
IRINA LAGUNINA, Senior Political Correspondent, RFE/RL Russian Service
laguninai@rferl.org
+420.602.517.529
To schedule and interview with any of RFE/RL’s experts, contact Martins Zvaners in Washington (zvanersm@rferl.org; +1.202.457.6948), or Joanna Levison in Prague (levisonj@rferl.org; +420.221.122.080).
Follow the latest developments on RFERL.org.