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Vue lecture

Why Autocrats Care What People Think

Russia is staging an election that matters to almost no one — except President Vladimir V. Putin and his inner circle.

© Nanna Heitmann for The New York Times

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow.
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Why Russia Holds Elections, and How the Kremlin Gets the Results It Wants

Russian elections like the parliamentary vote that begins today are hardly free. But they are critical to the government as a source of legitimacy.

© Nanna Heitmann for The New York Times

Nanna Heitmann for The New York TimesA digital screen featuring candidates from the United Russia party in Moscow this week. Russians began voting on Friday in parliamentary elections.
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Russia’s Election Result Won’t Be a Shock. What Comes Next Could Be.

Russians are braced for what may follow for the military and economy after a parliamentary election that the Kremlin sees as a means of legitimizing its policies.

© Nanna Heitmann for The New York Times

An ad for the United Russia party in Moscow on Tuesday. A three-day election will offer little formal outlet for voters to register discontent over the growing reverberations of the war in Ukraine.
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