War Comes to the Duma

This month, Russia held its first State Duma election since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to ruling party United Russia, which won more than three-quarters of the chamber’s seats, some 49 war participants will become lawmakers. But the independent outlet Meduza found broader links: 148 incoming deputies (out of a total 450) — just under one-third of the Duma — are connected to the war through military service, financing, logistics, infrastructure, or propaganda, based on open sources.

According to Meduza, the final number is not settled because some winners may decline mandates or take other posts. For instance, United Russia initially said 86 war participants would enter parliament, then withdrew that figure; party General Council Secretary Vladimir Yakushev later put the number at 49.

Their backgrounds vary. Badma Bashankayev trained troops in tactical medicine, while Vadim Logunov worked with the Interior Ministry’s Grom ("Thunder") unit in occupied parts of Ukraine’s Kherson region. In some cases, Meduza said, publicly claimed combat experience is difficult to verify.

Dmitry Sablin, for example, was described as serving in intelligence in the fall of 2022, but flight records cited by Meduza show he traveled to Antalya with his wife that October. Sablin headed the BARS Kaskadunit, an example of what are often called "deputies’ battalions" — formations in which officials and politicians nominally serve, often to demonstrate loyalty to their superiors or make amends for some misconduct.

Several incoming lawmakers have been linked to alleged war crimes. Nursultan Mussagaliyev, a former officer in Russia’s 76th Guards Air Assault Division, is suspected by Ukraine of ordering the detention, torture, and killing of a civilian near Kyiv in 2022, according to the Security Service of Ukraine.

Col. Gen. Alexander Lapin commanded Russia’s center grouping at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. In June 2026, Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Ruslan Kravchenko, said Lapin had been convicted in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Adam Delimkhanov led Chechen forces during the assault on Mariupol, according to accounts of his role cited by Human Rights Watch, Truth Hounds, and SITU Research. Their joint report named Delimkhanov among 10 senior Russian officers who could be directly implicated in war crimes committed in the city.

Two other incoming deputies, Enver Nabiyev and Baldan Tsydypov, served in the 5th Separate Guards Tank Brigade. Nabiyev was a battalion chief of staff and took part in the advance toward Kyiv through Chernobyl and Borodianka, while Tsydypov commanded a motorized rifle platoon and was badly wounded on the Kyiv front on March 30, 2022.

Ukraine’s Interior Ministry has linked members of that brigade to attacks on civilian vehicles on the Kyiv-Zhytomyr highway between March 4 and March 25, 2022, in which 13 people were killed and six wounded. Neither Nabiyev nor Tsydypov is a suspect. Russian sources confirm that both were serving in the brigade during the same period, but Meduza said it could not establish whether they took part in the shootings.

Other parties are also sending candidates with war ties, including three from LDPR, one from A Just Russia, and independent Magomed Valikhov, a military doctor.

Meduza identified another 94 incoming lawmakers with indirect links to the war. Five were involved in training units, weapons development, testing, or military infrastructure; four worked with wounded troops or aid projects; four were involved in military propaganda; and 81 raised money, supplied the military, or delivered aid. For instance, Galina Golovchenko’s Pokolenie ("Generation") foundation says it has provided R450 million ($5.33 million) in war-related assistance. Andrei Gimbatov and Vitaly Likhachev helped launch Bessmertny Stalingrad ("Immortal Stalingrad"), a combat training center for drone operators.

Meduza identified four incoming lawmakers as propagandists. Evgeny Poddubny, a war correspondent and deputy director general of VGTRK, was among the top five candidates on the United Russia federal list. Marina Kim traveled to the combat zone and made documentaries about Russian troops. War correspondent Irina Kuksenkova also worked on projects that support and rehabilitate veterans. Vyacheslav Nikonov hosts Bolshaya Igra ("The Great Game"), a talk show that has portrayed the invasion of Ukraine as Russia’s war against the "collective West."