Last Sunday, 15 December, local government elections were held in four regions of Russia. Deputies were elected to three municipal representative bodies, and heads of four municipalities were chosen.
Karelia: there was a conflict, but trust was not undermined
In the Republic of Karelia, early elections for the head of Pai rural settlement in Prionezhsky District took place. In addition, three electoral campaigns here were postponed once again: in Ambarny rural settlement for the head and a local council deputy, and in Luusalmi — for the head.
Former head of Pai rural settlement Elizaveta Maroz led the local administration for more than one term. She is also fairly well known in Prionezhsky District. For instance, in 2017, at the first session of the newly elected district council, deputies elected her as head of the district. However, a month later Maroz voluntarily relinquished her new powers, citing family circumstances, and remained in her previous position in Pai rural settlement.
And last year, the head had a conflict of interest: she concluded several contracts for grass mowing and snow removal with her own son, local council deputy Renat Nasibulin — for a total sum of just under 60,000 roubles.
The district prosecutor's office demanded that the settlement council adopt a decision on the early dismissal of the head due to loss of trust. However, the deputies limited themselves to a warning, and the oversight body appealed to the district court. The court found that the deadline for applying a penalty against the municipal employee had been missed. At the same time, the court acknowledged the very fact that a conflict of interest existed.
As a result, Elizaveta Maroz voluntarily relinquished her powers, taking up the post of deputy head of the rural settlement, and the territorial election commission scheduled early elections for 15 February.
Being a supporter of United Russia, Maroz was registered in these elections as a self-nominated candidate. She was opposed by the acting head of the Prionezhsky District Cultural Centre and United Russia member Anton Semenov, who also participated as a self-nominated candidate.
Adding a particular piquancy to the situation was the fact that 442,000 roubles were spent from the local budget on the early elections — funds that it absolutely could not afford for the ill-fated snow removal and grass mowing.
According to the election results, Elizaveta Maroz became head once again, gaining 80% of the voters' votes.
The election of the head of Ambarny rural settlement was supposed to take place back in September 2023. However, to this day, — if one disregards the comical case of the victory of a technical candidate from Petrozavodsk from the Party of Pensioners, Veronika Svirskaya, in autumn 2025 and her subsequent refusal of the post, — the settlement remains under the temporary leadership of an acting head. Currently, this is the CPRF representative Kirill Tikhomirov — the only registered candidate in the postponed vote on both 15 February and now 29 March. Which means that elections for the head in Ambarny are not expected in March either.
The additional election of a settlement council deputy also did not take place due to a lack of competition. Candidates Nina Semenova from United Russia and Dmitry Kuzovkin from the CPRF withdrew after registration on their own applications.
Neither on 15 February, nor now on 29 March, will the postponed vote for the head of Luusalmi rural settlement be held. On both dates, two candidates were registered here. However, in both cases, the United Russia candidate Maksim Obiedkov, who lives in the Moscow suburbs, was left without his competitor — the LDPR representative Oksana Razbitskova, who dropped out of the race voluntarily.
Altai Krai: a new attempt to occupy the "cursed posts"
In Altai Krai, early elections were held for the heads of three village soviets: Georgievsky, Sidorovsky and Lugovskoy. No one can hold on to these posts for long.
The election of the head of Georgievsky village soviet took place quite recently, on the single voting day of 14 September last year. The winner then was the previous head of the local administration, the United Russia candidate Olga Ragozina. However, elections were already scheduled in November, as she relinquished her powers early.
On 15 February, two registered candidates appeared on the ballot paper here: Ella Shmider from United Russia and self-nominated candidate Tatyana Yurchenko.
According to the voting results, the post of head went to Ella Shmider.
The vote for the head of Sidorovsky village soviet took place on the third attempt after failures on 14 September and 14 December. Despite the fact that the number of nominated and registered candidates by 14 December reached five people, four of them withdrew on their own applications. Among them was the acting head and United Russia representative Roza Sergeeva.
During the vote on 15 February, the contest for the post was waged by two self-nominated candidates — Nadezhda Kustova and Maria Petechel. Maria Petechel won.
The previous election of the head of Lugovskoy village soviet also took place quite recently.
On 6 April, the victory in it was won by the United Russia-nominated temporarily unemployed Sergei Akulov. However, already in July he wrote a letter of resignation of his own accord.
In the early elections last Sunday, the contest for the post here was waged by private enterprise security guard Igor Vasiliev — from United Russia, and Barnaul resident, head of the public reception office of A Just Russia, Yury Maier.
According to the voting results, the post of head was obtained by Igor Vasiliev.
Arkhangelsk Oblast: elections at a nuclear test site
In the urban okrug of "Novaya Zemlya" in Arkhangelsk Oblast, which is located on a remote Arctic island, early elections of local council deputies took place. Both of the polling stations involved are located in the settlements of Belushya Guba and Rogachevo — places of deployment of the garrison of the Russian Federation's central nuclear test site.
The reason for calling the elections was the voluntary resignation of five out of ten deputies, which left the council composition without a quorum.
In total, 13 candidates competed for the mandates: ten from United Russia, one from A Just Russia, and two self-nominated candidates.
According to the voting results, nine deputy mandates went to United Russia candidates and one to a self-nominated candidate.
Jewish Autonomous Oblast: United Russia took both mandates
In the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, additional elections of deputies to the assemblies of Bidzhan and Amurzet rural settlements were held.
Four candidates laid claim to the two vacant mandates: two from United Russia and two self-nominated candidates.
According to the voting results, both mandates went to United Russia candidates.
15 February in Russia
Eight candidates competed for the posts of heads of three municipalities.
17 candidates competed for 12 deputy mandates in the representative bodies of three municipalities in majoritarian electoral districts.
Total since the start of the new electoral cycle
After the single voting day of 14 September 2025, 17 electoral campaigns for the election of heads of municipalities have taken place. 44 candidates took part in them.
Elections of deputies to 67 local representative bodies have taken place; 287 deputy mandates were filled. 588 candidates were registered in majoritarian districts.