Editorial Board

Putin's Win Is No Victory for Russia

Poor voter turnout reflects a lack of choice.

September 19, 2016 at 8:07 PM UTC

By The Editorial Board

The Editorial Board publishes the views of the editors across a range of national and global affairs.

Among the 48 percent who voted.
Photographer: Grigory Duker/AFP/Getty Images

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A new round of elections has handed all-but-complete control of Russia’s parliament to President Vladimir Putin. The result, however, can hardly be called a victory for Russia.

Putin’s United Russia party gained its largest-ever majority in the lower house of parliament -- enough to alter the country’s constitution. Genuine opposition parties didn’t win a single seat. In celebrating the outcome, Putin called it a repudiation of Western attempts to meddle in Russia’s affairs.