War fatigue and anxiety grip Russia ahead of parliamentary elections

In a country where elections do not determine power but reveal its limits, Russians head to the polls this week carrying the accumulated weight of war — rising prices, fuel shortages, and the quiet dread of conscription. The Kremlin will manufacture whatever results it needs, yet it watches turnout with genuine anxiety, because what cannot be fabricated is the mood of a people who have begun asking, in private and in growing numbers, what this war is truly costing them. The vote, running from September 18 to 20, is less a democratic exercise than a barometer — and the pressure it registers may