Key facts
- United Russia party announced its lead candidates for the September parliamentary election.
- Ukraine war veteran Vladislav Golovin and war correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny will head the candidate list.
- Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin are also among the top candidates.
- Golovin was wounded during the battle for Mariupol in 2022.
- Poddubny was wounded in fighting in Russia's Kursk region in 2024.
Russia's ruling party, United Russia, announced on Sunday that it will feature an injured Ukraine war veteran and a television war correspondent among its lead candidates for the parliamentary election scheduled for September. Vladislav Golovin, a naval infantry platoon commander wounded in the battle for Mariupol, and state television reporter Yevgeny Poddubny, who was wounded in Russia's Kursk region, will head the party's candidate list.
Party chairman Dmitry Medvedev stated that Golovin and Poddubny would lead the ticket. Also included in the top five candidates are Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, both prominent officials. Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's commissioner for children's rights, is also on the list.
United Russia has historically secured large majorities in Russian elections. Despite current challenges including the ongoing war and fuel shortages attributed to Ukrainian drone strikes, the party is expected to win a significant majority, supported by President Vladimir Putin and a parliamentary opposition that aligns with the Kremlin's stance on Ukraine. Putin himself secured a new presidential term in 2024, extending his tenure until at least 2030.
President Putin has previously expressed a desire for veterans of the Ukraine war to enter politics and become part of Russia's new elite. While prominent national figures often appear on United Russia's candidate lists, they do not always take up their seats in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.