🇷🇺 On 28 September, President of Russia Vladimir Putin held a meeting in the Kremlin with leaders of political parties elected to the 9th State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

💬 President Vladimir Putin:

Good evening, colleagues,

The official results of the recent major and highly significant election campaign for our country have now been finalised.

I congratulate you and your supporters on your success and on the results you have achieved.

Not only did all the parliamentary parties reaffirm their status, but they also contributed to strengthening Russia’s political system, state sovereignty and social stability.

The election campaign was conducted properly; it was substantive and constructive, and demonstrated a high level of maturity in our political culture.

The public support given to your parties and the people’s trust must be justified through all your subsequent work in local and regional government bodies and in the federal parliament. I want to emphasise this in particular: this work must be joint and team-based.

☝️ I would also like to note the competent and well-coordinated and professional organisation of the election. Staff performed their duties honestly and impartially, in challenging, almost battle-like conditions in the border regions, in Donbass and Novorossiya, demonstrating courage, bravery, and in many cases heroism. Unfortunately, as you and I know, there were also casualties.

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The voting procedure itself was made as convenient as possible for citizens, including through the three-day voting period and the wide availability of electronic services.

Of course, I would like to thank the tens of millions of voters and citizens of our country. Their active participation in the voting and the high turnout guaranteed the indisputable and absolute legitimacy of these elections.

❗️All attempts to disrupt the election campaign and interfere in our domestic affairs failed completely. We know that such attempts were planned and undertaken, including through the use of terrorist methods and tools of foreign intelligence services. But our people defended the sovereign right of the Russian people to determine their own future.

You know, it is a tradition for the head of state, the President, to appeal to voters before an election, calling on them to take an active part in the voting. That was the case this time as well. At the same time, all of us – I, and indeed every person in Russia, in our country – understood that attempts would be made to interfere and that, despite the measures being taken by the Defence Ministry and law enforcement agencies, threats, and significant threats at that, remained.

Yet, when I saw the queues at polling stations on television, I was once again convinced that our people are resilient, courageous and well informed, and that they understand perfectly well what is happening around Russia.

It became clear that such people cannot be intimidated, and that such people, such a country, cannot be defeated. Therefore, victory will undoubtedly be ours.

The election once again demonstrated the people’s support for the heroes fighting for Russia, and the election confirmed this once again. It is only natural that all the parliamentary parties included among their candidates veterans of the special military operation who had demonstrated their loyalty to Russia on the battlefield. And I have no doubt that they will serve the Fatherland with the same dedication on the parliamentary and civic front.

Following the election, United Russia strengthened its leading position, which means that its responsibility for the course and momentum of the legislative process and for the overall result will be even greater.

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