The Moscow Times: Russia on Saturday reported 20,329 new coronavirus cases — the highest number of new infections in four weeks — and 799 deaths.
RFE/RL: Russians vote on September 19 in the final day of three-day parliamentary elections marred by allegations of widespread irregularities and a fresh crackdown on jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny’s movement.
The Moscow Times: According to the Central Election Commission, nationwide turnout for in-person voting is at 31.51% as of the end of Saturday.
RFE/RL: In addition to the mass mobilization of state-sector workers, as well as strong indications of ballot-box stuffing and so-called carousel voting — when a single person cast ballots at several stations — Russian monitors say that home voting is also likely being used to skew the results of the voting for the State Duma, Russia’s lower parliament house, and local legislatures and posts.
RFE/RL: Russia has lost a record amount of forest acreage to fire this year since accurate recording began two decades ago, Greenpeace said.
