Last Sunday, 25 October, elections to local self-government bodies were held in two regions of Russia. Deputies were elected to two representative bodies.
Zabaykalsky Krai: snap elections to the council of a new municipal okrug
In Zabaykalsky Krai elections were held for the Council of the first convocation of the newly created Sretensky Municipal Okrug.
On 20 June 2025, a law was adopted on the transformation of the last four municipal raions of the region into municipal okrugs — Sretensky, Tungiro-Olyokminsky, Chernyshevsky and Shilkinsky. The law stipulated that the new okrugs would come into effect on 1 January 2027.
The reform was not welcomed by either local residents or raion deputies. In May 2026, three deputies left the local council at once, according to their own statements — two self-nominees and one United Russia representative. As a result, the Zabaykalsky Krai Regional Court declared its composition illegitimate.
Under the law, it was no longer possible to hold new elections to the old, soon-to-be-abolished council, and forming the governing bodies of the new municipal okrug before the reform was completed was impossible. To resolve the legal deadlock, the Legislative Assembly of Zabaykalsky Krai urgently moved the official establishment date of Sretensky Municipal Okrug to 25 July 2026.
On 5 August, the territorial election commission called the elections. Four multi-member districts and one single-member district were created for the elections. 39 registered candidates contested the 15 deputy seats: 15 from United Russia, 14 from the LDPR, eight from A Just Russia, one from the Communist Party and one self-nominee.
According to the voting results, eight mandates went to United Russia candidates, four to A Just Russia, and three to the LDPR.
Yakutia: elections to an illegitimate council of deputies
In Yakutia, early elections were held for the Council of Deputies of the Betyunsky Nasleg of the Amginsky Ulus.
There are two Betyunsky Naslegs in the Republic — the second is located in the Namsky Ulus. Both rural settlements were named after an ancient Yakut tribal group — the Betyuns, which had a significant influence on the formation of the modern Sakha people. The Betyuns had a cult of the wolf ancestor, which became the basis for the formation of the ethnonym "Börö Bötüŋ" (in Yakut, börö means "wolf").
In the Betyunsky Nasleg of the Amginsky Ulus of Yakutia, a council of deputies operated for almost ten months that from the very beginning had no right to assume its powers.
On 14 September 2025, elections were held in the nasleg. According to the charter of the rural settlement, its representative body consists of 15 deputies and is considered legitimate only after at least two-thirds — that is, ten people — have been elected. However, only nine were elected at that time. Nevertheless, the elections were declared to have taken place and to be valid, and the council began its work.
Moreover, despite the fact that initially nine deputies were elected instead of 15, by the summer of 2026 only four remained in the representative body. And only then did the head of the nasleg administration, Sargylana Borisova, appeal to the Supreme Court with a lawsuit to declare its composition illegitimate.
In the elections that took place, 19 candidates were registered, all self-nominees.
The elections were held, and 15 mandates were distributed among self-nominees.
25 October in Russia
58 candidates contested 30 deputy mandates in the representative bodies of two municipalities in majoritarian electoral districts.
Total since the start of the new electoral cycle
Since the single voting day of 20 September 2026, two election campaigns for heads of municipalities have taken place. Four candidates participated in them.
Elections were held for four local representative bodies; 47 deputy mandates were filled in majoritarian districts, and 79 candidates were registered.