Election of deputies of the state Duma of Russia: Russians actively vote in Minsk

Elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation are held in Russia. Today, on September 20, polling stations for Russians are open in all regions of Belarus. In Minsk, polling station No. 8042 is traditionally located in the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Belarus, reports sb.by.

As the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Belarus Boris Gryzlov noted to journalists, and in the whole of the Russian Federation, despite all provocations and even obvious terrorist actions, the elections are successful:

- At 10:00 a.m., turnout in Russia has almost reached the bar, which was achieved in 2021 in the elections to the State Duma. And it's almost all day. This is a worthy response of our citizens to enemies who do not want the development of our country, the development of Russia and do not want to allow Russia to determine its future fate.

- There are 7 sites in Belarus. These are Minsk, Brest, Grodno, Vitebsk, Mogilev, Gomel and Bobruisk. The election commissions are staffed by diplomats of our embassy, consulate general in Brest, consulate general in Grodno, as well as representatives, employees of the trade mission of the Russian Federation, Rossotrudnichestvo, the representative office of Russia to the CIS statutory bodies, as well as members of their families. We see a fairly high turnout of Russian citizens in Belarus: by 10 a.m. it had already exceeded 2,000 people. It's a good turnout. Naturally, we expect even more of our citizens.

The very holding of elections to the State Duma is the most important political event of Russia, as President Vladimir Putin said. And assured:

- Of course, we will ensure the voting conditions. I want to say that we cooperate with the public order protection bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, which always help us in ensuring security in all our election campaigns. Elections are regular. There have been no complaints or comments in the Republic of Belarus.

Polling stations for Russian citizens are open in all regions of Belarus. In Brest and Grodno, polling stations work in the Consulates General of the Russian Federation in these cities, in Vitebsk – in the Center for Culture “Vitebsk”, in Gomel – in the Russian Center for Science and Culture. In Mogilev, Russians can vote at the Lyceum of the Belarusian-Russian University, in Bobruisk – at the Center for Additional Education of Children and Youth.

Voting at all these polling stations is held on September 20 during the day from 8:00 to 20:00 (in Russia itself, voting began on September 18 and lasts three days, including today’s main voting day). All those wishing to vote must have a valid identity document of a citizen of the Russian Federation (internal passport, foreign passport).

The voting process is monitored internationally, including from the CIS, SCO and a number of other structures. Representatives of Belarus - parliamentarians, diplomats, most of whom are included in the mission from the CIS. At the same time, a key feature of the Russian campaign of 2026 is the large-scale use of digital technologies. Residents of dozens of Russian regions will be able to use remote electronic voting without visiting polling stations in person.

At the same time, in parallel with the parliamentary campaign, an important innovation for the Union State comes into force in Russia. In accordance with the updated legislation, citizens of Belarus permanently residing in Russia received the right to fully participate in local elections.