United Russia's Duma list includes Lavrov, Sobyanin, and war participants

United Russia party has announced the top five candidates for the September 2026 State Duma elections. The list includes Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, war correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny, and Yunarmiya Chief of Staff Vladislav Golovin. For the first time since 2007, the party presented itself as 'Putin's party' with a poster bearing the slogan 'Being for Putin is the basic minimum.' Putin addressed the congress, stating that Russia cannot be defeated on the battlefield and called war participants the 'true elite.' Despite security officials' attempts to postpone the elections, Putin affirmed they will proceed as scheduled from September 18-20 with full security measures.