In a political landscape shaped more by decree than debate, Russia's United Russia party claimed its strongest electoral result in history, securing nearly 58 percent of the vote and 355 seats in the Duma. The election, held amid economic hardship and an ongoing military campaign in Ukraine, excluded all opposition voices and extended voting into occupied Ukrainian territories the world does not recognize as Russian soil. What was framed as democratic participation functioned instead as institutional ratification — a mirror held up to power, reflecting only what power wished to see.