EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas on Monday dismissed Russia's parliamentary elections as a "veneer" of democracy, and said she was proposing sanctions against those who organised them in occupied Ukraine. Five other countries – the UK, Norway, Australia, New Zealand and Canada – also condemned Russia's move as a violation of the UN charter.
President Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia won a large majority against token opposition, with no party contesting Moscow's war against Ukraine allowed to run.
