Arrests, armed soldiers and opposition parties banned: How Putin controlled Russia’s ‘sham’ elections

Vladimir Putin’s party is set to win by a comfortable majority as voting closed in the country’s tightly controlled parliamentary elections, widely branded a sham.

Initial data from Russia’s Central Election Commission suggests the leader’s United Russia party is in the lead to win with 57.8 per cent of the votes and over 90 per cent of the ballots processed.