Russia in September 2026: the most important developments in politics
Russian politics in September 2026 was dominated by the State Duma election of September 18 to 20, held in the fifth year of the war in Ukraine. United Russia won, with exit polls and early returns putting its share between 49 and 57 percent and turnout at about 57 percent; the party formed a faction of 349 to 350 deputies. Voting also took place in areas of Ukraine occupied by Russia, with soldiers present at polling stations, and reports said anti-war candidates were kept off the ballot. Russian officials reported cyberattacks on the electoral system. Russians voting abroad cast ballots largely against United Russia, according to polls, and turnout among Russians in Latvia was below one percent. Putin backed Vyacheslav Volodin for Duma speaker and addressed the new chamber on September 30, calling social cohesion the guarantee of Russia's security.
The second thread was Ukraine diplomacy. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Putin in Moscow on September 5 with a peace plan; no breakthrough was reported, though Russia and Ukraine agreed to halt strikes on each other's capitals during the visit and Putin declared a three-day ceasefire. Putin and Trump held phone calls, and Lavrov met Marco Rubio in New York on September 23. Trump invited Putin to the G20 summit in Miami in December, which drew calls from US senators to withdraw the invitation, while Peskov said no decision had been made. Russia said it expected trilateral talks to resume but rejected a pause in military operations during negotiations, and Putin said on September 25 that a Russia-US-Ukraine meeting would be held soon.
Relations with Germany deteriorated. After Berlin blamed Russia for a drone incident at Leipzig airport, Germany closed Russian consulates and Russia closed the German consulate general in St. Petersburg, with Lavrov calling the accusations the "start of a real war." Wadephul and Lavrov met in New York on September 26, with Lavrov rejecting German calls to de-escalate, and Russia said it had no plans to attack Europe while Lavrov said any war with Europe would be very short.
Putin attended the SCO summit in Bishkek on September 1 and the BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 11 to 13, meeting Modi, Xi Jinping and Pezeshkian. Hungary expelled ten Russian diplomats, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić resigned after a call to the Kremlin.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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