Regional elections in Russia

Millions of Russian people went to the polls on Sunday to vote in regional elections on United Voting Day, RIA Novosti reports.

Polls opened on Sunday morning for more than 24 million Russians to vote in elections to local authorities being held in 74 out of 83 Russian regions.

Residents in the Russian easternmost Chukotka region, the Khanty-Mansi autonomous area in West Siberia, the Orenburg region in the south Urals, the Kirov region in the northeast of European Russia, the Nizhny Novgorod region in the Volga area, the Tambov and Kursk regions in western Russia, the Tver region in central Russia, the republic of Komi in the Urals, the republics of Adygea and Dagestan in the south and the country's westernmost Kaliningrad region are among those electing regional legislatures.

The ruling United Russia party, the opposition A Just Russia party, Liberal Democrats and Communists, all of which have factions in Russia's lower house of parliament, are participating in the parliamentary elections in all the 12 regions. In some regions these parties are also joined by the Patriots of Russia party, the Yabloko opposition party, and by the Right Cause liberal party.