Google Speech-to-Text API Automatic Transcription (Chirp). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00bormas,
00:00:09of
00:00:18of
00:00:24of Russia's of first parliamentary elections since the beginning
00:00:29of of the Ukraine conflict have rap up and the counting
00:00:31of the votes has begun, we're bringing you our special coverage as the
00:00:35of world's geographically biggest
00:00:37of country has its democratic
00:00:38say and with the first
00:00:42preliminary results coming in, the ruling united russia
00:00:46party
00:00:46of is
00:00:47of firmly of top with solid majority, the runner up is the
00:00:50of communist party with almost 14% and the
00:00:53in liberal democratic party is inferred with a little over
00:00:579%. Moscow says: Kyev
00:01:00of tried to undermine the elections with a massive attack as almost
00:01:04200 drones and
00:01:06of missiles were intercepted
00:01:08in a single day. The targeted assault on the Russian capital left
00:01:12several people
00:01:13of death. And that is my vote, one of
00:01:17of tens of millions being cast around the Don Bas, but
00:01:21with every vote cast in the Don Bas, the people
00:01:25of the Dumbas show that those threats don't
00:01:29scare them. Russians cast their ballots despite
00:01:33threats and daily shelling from Ukraine. That's as the
00:01:36Kiev
00:01:37regime, insists elections cannot be held during wartime.
00:01:40Nevertheless, Russians ventured out to the polls, including near the front
00:01:44lines and in other border regions. Generally
00:01:48speaking, it is very difficult to intimidate me. It's just not in my
00:01:52nature. Firstly, I don't recognize the landscate all, and I don't watch
00:01:55him on TV. As for scammers, they've already left me
00:01:59of alone. We have. too long to be
00:02:00intimidated.
00:02:08of of of hello and welcome. you're watching RT international
00:02:12with the latest headlines. it's good to
00:02:14a have you with us. well, this has been the third and final day of voting in
00:02:18Russia's
00:02:19of parliamentary elections. polls
00:02:21of have closed in the country's westernmost region and the first
00:02:24prelim preliminary results are already coming in. RC has been
00:02:28keeping
00:02:28a close tap on the developments. bringing you all the latest updates as
00:02:32part of our special
00:02:33coverage,
00:02:45well even
00:02:45of of though the
00:02:45of
00:02:46of polls have closed, there's still a lot to see, count and discuss as
00:02:50the
00:02:50of final figures won't be
00:02:51of officially confirmed until next Friday, well currently here are
00:02:55the
00:02:56of
00:02:56of preliminary results after about 19%
00:02:58of the ballots have been tallied, have the ruling United Russia
00:03:02party firmly in the lead with solid majority, we've
00:03:06got the runner-up party, which is the communist party with about
00:03:09of 14%, and then in third place the liberal democratic party
00:03:13with a little over 9%. So that's how it's looking
00:03:17so far. For more on the elections, let's bring in our
00:03:21a correspondentsava and Isabella Bloomberg, thank you both of you
00:03:25for keeping an eye on things over the past few days. Ala,
00:03:28of let's come to you first, buse I know. you're currently at the central
00:03:32of electoral commission here in
00:03:33of Moscow where the votes are being counted of course, so what more can you tell
00:03:37us about the election process
00:03:38itself? well, Nikki, indeed, the
00:03:42elections have officially wrapped up here in Russia,
00:03:46and polling stations have now closed nationwide, including in
00:03:50Caliningrad, now the voter turnout across the country
00:03:54reached 56.66%,
00:03:57and so far 18.8% 7%
00:04:01of the votes have been counted and so the preliminary
00:04:04results are in. let me just give you a quick breakdown
00:04:07of the five leading parties here. so we begin with the all Russian
00:04:11me political party, United Russia, which got the most votes, that is
00:04:15over 57%. uh, then of course the
00:04:19communist
00:04:20of party of
00:04:20of the Russian Federation, or CPRF for short, uh, got
00:04:24the second highest number of votes, that is over 13%. then we have
00:04:28the Liberal
00:04:28of Democratic Party of... Russia or LDPR with over
00:04:329% of
00:04:33of votes, then the new people political party in fourth place with
00:04:37almost 8% of votes
00:04:39a and the Socialist political party adjust Russia with
00:04:43over 5% of votes. Now the leading three candidates
00:04:47for each individual constituency have also
00:04:50in now of of been announced and uh in Russia there are
00:04:52225 individual constituencies and in
00:04:56Moscow
00:04:57of alone in the Russian capital there are 16. uh and of
00:05:00course one candidate will eventually be elected per each
00:05:03constituency uh now in selecting the the well
00:05:07specific candidate in casting the vote for a specific candidate uh to the
00:05:11state
00:05:11of dumar to rep present their area in the lower house of parliament,
00:05:15Russian citizens chose from between around seven
00:05:19eight candidates per area, and the total number of
00:05:22candidates making the federal lists in this election is over
00:05:261,700 people. now some of those
00:05:30candidates uh in the federal lists are independent, and
00:05:33importantly these federal lists in this election also include veterans
00:05:37the special military operation. now uh
00:05:40across those three days we had over
00:05:4390,000 polling stations open across
00:05:47the country, and the total number of registered voters in the Russian
00:05:51capital was over 7,800,000
00:05:55uh, while nationwide that number was uh
00:05:58111 million voters. now in
00:06:02the course the election, people have been able to cast the vote a
00:06:06variety of ways, that is in person, online uh, those who
00:06:10weren't able to vote in person were able to vote from home so there were many
00:06:14ways for people to participate indeed. now it is also worth
00:06:17noting that uh almost 4000
00:06:21observers were present at these elections nationwide across those
00:06:25three days and well with the polls now officially closed and the
00:06:29preliminary results now in. we are awaiting the final
00:06:32results from the central election commission and those will be
00:06:36available uh well by the 5th of
00:06:39October. many thanks 100.
00:06:4211 million eligible voters, that's a lot of votes to
00:06:46count, but I'm sure it's going to happen sooner than we think. Let's cross
00:06:50over to central Moscow, now Isabella Bloomberg is there for us just outside
00:06:54the Kremlin. Abella, we know
00:06:55there was a massive Ukrainian attack overnight, the Russian defense ministry
00:06:59called it an attempt by Kiev sabotage the
00:07:03elections. Tell us more about
00:07:04that. Thank you, Nicky,
00:07:08well, as you've mentioned overnight in Moscow and the surrounding.
00:07:15came under what officials are calling one the largest Ukrainian drone
00:07:19attacks since the start the war between Russia and
00:07:22Ukraine and Moscow's mayor Sabanan says that overnight air
00:07:26defenses managed to intercept more than 450
00:07:30drones apparently headed to Moscow. At the same time the
00:07:33Ministry of Defense has reported that air defense systems have managed to
00:07:37intercept more than 1,950
00:07:41drones and aerial. targets over the course of 24 hours over
00:07:45Russian territory, and the MOD says that this was deliberate
00:07:48attempt by Kiev to undermine Russia's peaceful democratic
00:07:52elections. In
00:07:56an effort to undermine the democratic will the citizens the Russian
00:07:59Federation, as expressed in the elections to the state Duma the
00:08:03Federal Assembly the Russian Federation. The Kiev regime launched
00:08:07a massive attack on the territory the Russian Federation on
00:08:10September 19th and 20th. of this year, using
00:08:14UAVs and Flamingo cruise missiles. In response to the
00:08:17Kiev regime's attacks on civilian targets on Russian territory, the
00:08:21armed forces the Russian Federation will intensify their strikes with
00:08:25high precision weapons against military targets in
00:08:28Kieve. Yeah, and despite Ukrainian attacks,
00:08:32Moscow has reported record turnout,
00:08:36despite these drone attacks and in the state doom, that's
00:08:40according to Russia's, sorry, to Moscow. Sabanyan
00:08:43now in terms the casualties and the damages, in Moscow and the
00:08:47surrounding region, two people have been killed with 30 other
00:08:51people wounded and in critical condition in hospital, three of those being
00:08:55children, and amid this drone attack, the central electoral
00:08:58commission uh reported that one staff member was injured
00:09:02in the Moscow region, and it's not just Moscow and the
00:09:06nearby regions, because we also saw this barrige of drones in the
00:09:10SMO zone in those four regions there is... as well, for example, a Ukrainian drone
00:09:14attack struck a school in the Zaparagi region, apparently a
00:09:18polling station was inside that school, unfortunately no
00:09:22casualties were reported there, but then we also saw another attack
00:09:26in the Herson region where Ukrainian drone attack struck a bus
00:09:29killing two people, one them also being a member the central
00:09:33electoral commission, so I think it's rather important to highlight
00:09:37that, Kieve is ramping up these drone attacks against civilians,
00:09:41civilian infrastructure, as Russia to took to the polls to
00:09:44vote for the final day the Russian parliamentary elections.
00:09:48Isabella, thank you for that. Thank you to both of our correspondents, keeping close eye
00:09:52on things for us, that's Isabella Bloomberg and Alah Kidriatev.
00:09:56Thank you. Well, the crucial vote has also taken place in
00:09:59territories that are coming under daily attack, but despite the threat
00:10:03posed by Ukraine, people say they're determined to make their
00:10:07voices heard. The head the Donies Republic has cast his
00:10:11vote a low. polling station, noting that he met quite a few people
00:10:15who wanted to vote in their first state dooma
00:10:18election. Arty
00:10:19Morat Gaziev reports on how the vote is being
00:10:22held
00:10:24under wartime conditions. "across two
00:10:28continents and 11 time zones under ceaseless
00:10:31threat of attack, russians vote for their new
00:10:35parliament.
00:10:46in their millions, despite constant threats
00:10:50from Ukraine, threats of prosecution and
00:10:53persecution. just for booting, attacks on
00:10:57polling stations, fakes and Ukrainian
00:11:00propaganda. Yesterday and the day before,
00:11:04leaflets were dropped by drones across most of our region,
00:11:07containing calls to block the electoral process and urging
00:11:11people not to participate in the elections. Every day we are
00:11:15seeing a steady stream of two or three disinformation campaigns coming
00:11:19from the Ukrainian side, along with deep fakes and forged
00:11:22administrative documents, yet. few are
00:11:25afraid, people are used to drones and
00:11:29missiles, verbal threats no longer
00:11:32carry the same weight. tell me, have you been
00:11:35intimidated? did Zelensky threaten you saying you shouldn't go to
00:11:39these elections? in no way, he can't do
00:11:42anything. of course not, generally speaking it
00:11:46is very difficult to intimidate me, it's just not in my
00:11:49nature. god forbid, firstly, i don't recognize the
00:11:53landscate all, and i don't want... him on tv, as for scammers,
00:11:57they've already left me alone, we have lived too long to be
00:12:00intimidated, and that
00:12:04is my vote, one of tens of millions being
00:12:07cast around the donbas in an environment where
00:12:11people are actively being threatened, where electoral
00:12:15officials are receiving death threats, their families, their
00:12:19children, but with every vote cast in the don
00:12:22bass, the people the... show
00:12:26that those threats don't scare them, not
00:12:29even strongly worded statements and
00:12:33condemnation could stop these elections. At today's
00:12:37meeting, the central electoral commission adopted resolution declaring that the
00:12:40organization and conduct of elections for deputies to the state duma the
00:12:44Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine are
00:12:48illegitimate. It is, of course, ironic that
00:12:52Ukraine forbids Ukrainians from voting. in these
00:12:55Russian elections, because neither does it allow
00:12:59Ukrainians themselves any elections, they're too
00:13:03dangerous, says the former president of
00:13:05Ukraine. Elections as such are huge
00:13:09risk. Elections right now are a tsunami which could split
00:13:12Ukraine. Again, the irony: Ukraine
00:13:15professes to be fighting for freedom and democracy, but says
00:13:19elections are too dangerous. Russia, which Kiev
00:13:23accuses of aggression and Tyrany holds elections even
00:13:27in war. He's holding elections in September.
00:13:31He needs a united society that will support his United Russia.
00:13:35Zelensky, on the other hand, doesn't need his society
00:13:38support, his term expired two years ago,
00:13:42and no one can do anything about it. He already
00:13:46controls all Ukrainian media, all newspapers
00:13:50and online publications, full spectrum
00:13:53propaganda. "anyone who criticizes him can be
00:13:57sanctioned, Ukrainian or otherwise, else
00:14:01sent a one-way trip to the front lines,
00:14:05so elections, you want elections as
00:14:07soon as ready to do it tomorrow, but if we have the war,
00:14:10it's you can't do it, what elections, how to make elections with the
00:14:149 million people who are abroad, and what to do with the
00:14:18people who are temporary or live in
00:14:22temporary occupied territories, Europe of course." will bend over
00:14:26backwards to accommodate Zelensky. Kaya
00:14:29Calas, the EU's diplomatic figure head,
00:14:33he's
00:14:33never one to overthink it. Simple and cliche
00:14:37is her style. Putin hasn't had elections or Russia hasn't
00:14:41had elections in 25 years. Zelensky is
00:14:45elected leader, elected in the free and fair elections
00:14:49and of course during a wartime you can't have elections.
00:14:52Zelensky's corrupt ministers. He's... army heads
00:14:56simply don't mind, so long as the EU
00:15:00supports Zelensky, the aid money pauses
00:15:03in and it can be divided up and shared
00:15:06around between friends, the only concern
00:15:10is the people of Ukraine forced brutally
00:15:14to fight a war they don't want to fight in, by a
00:15:18president they don't want, blastered by
00:15:21propaganda, they don't agree with, and there's nothing.
00:15:25They can do about it, but daydream. We must find
00:15:29legal, safe and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to restore a
00:15:33full-fledged democratic process even under the conditions of a prolonged
00:15:37war. "This is difficult. We must guarantee the right to vote for our
00:15:40military, for millions of Ukrainians abroad, and for those in the
00:15:44frontline regions. We must ensure the security the electoral
00:15:48process, the independence of institutions, and trust in the
00:15:51results. If Russia could do it, then so could
00:15:54Ukraine. And the only thing stopping elections in
00:15:58Ukraine is the former president, one
00:16:01Zelensky who just doesn't want to
00:16:05leave. Morat Gazdier."
00:16:11artigosnov is joining us from the United Russia
00:16:14party's public support headquarters in Moscow, eagle, good to
00:16:18see you, so it's about 10:15 um p.m. here
00:16:22in Moscow, about 90% the votes have been counted and looks like
00:16:26United Russia party is firmly in the lead, what's the atmosphere like
00:16:30over there? well Niki, the atmosphere
00:16:34certainly has been cheerful here, there's other word for it, and after all "if
00:16:38you look at the caliber of people that United Russia can show
00:16:42its roaster, well
00:16:43it certainly can't complain in that department, here we've spoken to heroes
00:16:47of Russia, to decorated officers, veterans the
00:16:51special military operation of in Ukraine, it's
00:16:55acting senators, acting MPs, you name it, they all have
00:16:58gathered here to together find out the
00:17:02outcome of this election, and well to finally
00:17:05find themselves victor." in this race, it has been
00:17:09a long, rather long race, after all, people have been
00:17:13voting for three days and and well again, the turnout has
00:17:17been quite significant, it has been larger than uh five
00:17:21years ago, and they
00:17:23you know the people, the people of this party of United Russia,
00:17:27its members, they have spoken openly about how happy
00:17:31they are that people chose to go and vote, that they
00:17:34utilized these uh, all the electronic uh
00:17:37methods that have been there available for the general population, for
00:17:41the low mobility people in hospitals and so to
00:17:45to vote without having to go to the polling
00:17:49station, without having you know without having to physically appear at
00:17:53the polling booths, and especially they have talked about
00:17:57how people in the new regions of Russia, people in the border regions of
00:18:00Russia, and I'm talking about the border regions, the ones that border with Ukraine of
00:18:04course, that they were unfaceed by... the threats, they were
00:18:08unfaced by the constant threats of drones, of missile attacks and
00:18:12they went and voted and voted unmasked. after all,
00:18:16if you look at the turnout in the Lugansk people's republic in the Donetsk People's
00:18:19Republic, those turnouts, they have been quite spectacular, well
00:18:23above the average across the country, and in fact I
00:18:27asked the senator representing the Lugansk people's republic, I
00:18:31asked her uh Daryl Antratava, I asked her uh what she
00:18:35thinks about it, what she thinks about the...
00:18:37people who still in her hometown, in her home
00:18:41region, they went and they decided to participate in
00:18:45this first election that they that they could really take part in
00:18:49as part of Russia, and here's what she had to
00:18:51say, indeed, the turnout is
00:18:55unprecedentedly high in the Dunetsk and Lugansk Republics at about
00:18:5880%. For the people, this is indeed very important event,
00:19:02another step on the path of integration with Russia, because the residence the
00:19:06reunited history.
00:19:37committee was killed in a Ukrainian strike in the Zaparogia
00:19:41region of Russia and so really people they did risk
00:19:45literally risk their lives to go and have a have a
00:19:49go a democratic say that they have now as part of Russia but
00:19:53they weren't the only ones uh you know taking this risk
00:19:56Moscow uh was targeted by Ukrainian uh you know
00:19:59long-ranged uh attack uh over the past over the
00:20:03past three days really there was several waves these attacks and
00:20:07"you had also international observers working at the polling
00:20:11stations and they took note of Russia's
00:20:15you now of how Russia has digitalized the voting process and
00:20:19they were quite impressed, they some some uh delegates, some uh
00:20:23well some the representatives the African of some African
00:20:26nations, they well they said that they might seek to
00:20:30adopt some of that technology and you know bring them
00:20:34to bring this technology to their home country." I
00:20:37asked an acting MP, Peter stoy as to what he thinks
00:20:41about th this representation when it comes to international
00:20:45observers and the general
00:20:47digitalization the vote. here in Russia, what he, here's what he had
00:20:51to say, you know, we have a large team of international
00:20:55observers working in these elections and not just in Moscow. Everyone has
00:20:59noted how far Russia has advanced in terms of technology for organizing the
00:21:03electoral process. This is transparent and verificable for
00:21:06voters. It is easy to understand and most importantly convenient for people to
00:21:10use. For us, it absolutely does not matter whether our former western
00:21:14partners recognize the elections or not, every day they tell stories
00:21:18about how bad we are, what? as we are, and this entire wave of
00:21:21russophobia, I'm sure, will also spill over into the finalization the
00:21:25election results. For us, the most important thing is that the elections are recognized as
00:21:29fair and objective by our citizens, by our Russian voters.
00:21:33Our legitimacy lies in the citizens of Russia and their voice, the trust the people
00:21:37is a politician's greatest asset. Now,
00:21:41there's still, there is going to be few days that the Russian Electoral
00:21:45Committee will take to finalize the counter of all the
00:21:49votes, but
00:21:49it is all. pretty pretty clear that United Russia it is
00:21:53quite comfortably in the lead, well over 50% the
00:21:56public support, they have it, and so it's leader
00:22:00Dimitri Midved has already said addressing people here uh uh
00:22:04in the people's in the public support HQ the United Russia
00:22:08party, he has said that now that they know that they have
00:22:12this public support, well they now United Russia can
00:22:16be more ambitious and it can really pursue.
00:22:20everything that it stands for and uh really
00:22:23try and put forward their vision,
00:22:27bring closer their vision of success for
00:22:30Russia. you guys, great to have you there gauging the mood
00:22:34for us. for now, that's Dan of our correspondent there at the
00:22:38United Headquarters, United Russia headquarters. thank you very
00:22:41much. uh, multiple polling stations were open in Russian embassies
00:22:45in many locations for citizens who are currently abroad. here are some
00:22:49pictures from voting locations around the world from Armenia to the
00:22:53UAE, Russian voters also actively cast their ballots in European
00:22:57countries, some these expatriates stress that it's important to
00:23:01express their position issues, even if they live outside their
00:23:04homeland. We must always
00:23:08express our civic stance, regardless the situation in the world or in
00:23:12our country, but right now in 2026, it seems to me that
00:23:16the world is on the brink of very significant changes and Russia.
00:23:36I came here to support Russia and our choice matters too, even for those of us
00:23:40living abroad, so that relations between Russia and France can be restored and
00:23:44improve. Well, we're hoping for confirmation the Russian government's actions, which
00:23:48I believe most of us view as positive. very complicated international
00:23:51geopolitical situation and the Russian government isn't doing a bad job at
00:23:55all. I believe in friendship. I want
00:23:59the two nations to be friends. My wife, for example, is German and I'm
00:24:03Russian. Why are there so many Russians here? 9 million
00:24:07Russian speakers, because our families are mixed. I believe we
00:24:11all can live in harmony. And these are images
00:24:15from several countries in Southeast Asia where Russian citizens have been
00:24:18gathering to vote. Several hundred people are expected to
00:24:22attend each the polling stations set up in Thailand,
00:24:26Indonesia, the Philippines and Laws. Voters explained
00:24:30why they wanted to exercise their democratic rights despite being
00:24:33thousands of kilometers away from home. For
00:24:37me, uh, this day is very important for our
00:24:40country, and
00:24:42we uh, from my point of view, every Russian citizen should
00:24:46vote uh, for their future. I think it's...
00:24:50really important to take part in this election cuz
00:24:52like uh we need to express
00:24:56our uh opinion and yeah
00:25:00this is really important for as a first time like
00:25:03voting here, it is really important for Russian people
00:25:07abroad to take part in these elections
00:25:11uh as it is very important to
00:25:14express fair will, a political will uh
00:25:18so that uh... community in Russia, Russia people
00:25:22and international community would know
00:25:26our political will, our willing to
00:25:29participate into political
00:25:32life in our
00:25:35country, I believe that this assembly of state
00:25:38Duma deputies is very important for our country, that is why I feel
00:25:42everyone has a duty to come
00:25:44out.
00:26:02cast their ballots. Russian citizens living in South
00:26:06Africa are turning out to cast their ballots in Russia's parliamentary election
00:26:10today. Here at the Embassy in Pretoria, doors opened early
00:26:14this morning with diplomatic staff uh facilitating
00:26:17voting alongside consulates in other parts the
00:26:21country, including Cape Town and Durban, for members the
00:26:25diaspora. Participating in the vote offers a direct way
00:26:29to influence the composition the four.
00:26:32450 seat state duma throughout this
00:26:36day, citizens from across many parts the hauting
00:26:40province have been arriving at these diplomatic gates to
00:26:44exercise their civic duty, each one them bringing their
00:26:48own priorities for the country's domestic trajectory as well as
00:26:52foreign policy. we believe, we
00:26:54are still, we're still staying russians, whether far away from Russia or we're living in
00:26:58Moscow, one thing which unite all of us is is Russia, is our home,
00:27:02is a symbol the any democratic society which
00:27:06should have, it should allow it citizens who want to
00:27:09vote to vote.
00:27:11what is the most important thing is the future, future of my country, future
00:27:15of my family, so that's why i have to make this
00:27:19choice and that's why i'm here. i
00:27:23consider myself a patriot of my country, so i really found
00:27:27the time to come and vote for the party that i consider worthy in russia. i
00:27:31am very worried about our future.
00:28:02of kilometers away from home, once polling concludes here
00:28:06in South Africa, the ballots collected across the country will be
00:28:10officially sealed and processed to be tallied alongside votes
00:28:14gathered from hundreds of Russian diplomatic missions
00:28:18worldwide, feeding directly into the final global
00:28:22count, for RT, amnoluvuyokunge in
00:28:26Pretoria, and while the voting has wrapped up, there's
00:28:30still a lot to see, count and... discuss: the final figures
00:28:34won't be officially confirmed until next Friday, but
00:28:37preliminary results on who will represent the vast country and parliament for the
00:28:41next five years will be gradually revealed this evening and
00:28:45overnight. Stay with us here on RT for the latest updates the top the hour. See you
00:28:49then!
00:29:09Ecuador, a South American land of sun and
00:29:12cocoa, shaped by the
00:29:16Andes, the Amazon, the Calapagos islands and beautiful
00:29:20beaches. The
00:29:24country's access to the Pacific Ocean and proximity to the Panama Canal,
00:29:27ensure it a highly advantageous strategic
00:29:30position. it attractive to the
00:29:33US, which had military bases here since World War
00:29:37II. In
00:29:402009, the Americans were forced
00:29:43out. For 16 years,
00:29:46Ecuador remained peaceful and free of foreign military
00:29:50bases.
00:29:55Until the American troops came
00:29:56back.
00:30:29qué es ese perela per amortillo perela.
00:30:43the predera district of Manta a Pacific port
00:30:47city, every morning
00:30:51at dawn to feed their families, local fishermen head out to sea
00:30:55hoping for a modest catch to take
00:30:57to the local market.