Last Sunday, 22 March, local government elections and one regional parliamentary election were held in three Russian regions. A deputy to the Legislative Assembly of Vladimir Oblast, deputies to four municipal representative bodies and the heads of eight municipalities were elected.
Vladimir Oblast: elections in new districts
Vladimir Oblast held elections of deputies to the councils of three new municipal districts — Kovrovsky, Dobrograd and Suzdalsky — as well as one city district — Suzdal.
The municipal reform was launched in the region in 2024 and went through its most active phase in 2025. In the September elections, candidates from the United Russia party took 96% of the deputy mandates in the ten newly created municipal districts.
To date, the reform has not affected only one of the region’s 16 districts — Vyaznikovsky. It is noteworthy that Muromsky District was merged with the city of Murom, becoming a city district, rather than the other way around. At the same time, the district remained the only one in the region where direct mayoral elections were preserved.
The cities of Vladimir, Gus-Khrustalny, Kovrov, Suzdal, the closed administrative-territorial entity of Raduzhny, and the urban-type settlement of Dobrograd — in the status of a municipal district — remained independent municipalities.
Dobrograd is the first urban settlement in Russia to be built on the territory of Kovrovsky District with funds from a private investor — Vladimir Sedov, the founder and co-owner of the bedroom furniture and accessories manufacturer Askona. The settlement’s general plan was only approved in 2017, and the official date of its formation was 14 December 2019.
The eponymous municipal district also includes 18 population centres of Novoselskoye rural settlement.
Ten deputy mandates were up for election here. Thirty registered candidates contested them: ten from United Russia, ten from the Pensioners’ Party, nine from the LDPR and one from A Just Russia.
In the elections to the council of Kovrovsky Municipal District, 15 deputy mandates were up for election. Forty-six candidates were registered and contested them: 15 from the LDPR, 14 from United Russia, 12 from the Pensioners’ Party, three from the New People party and two from the Communist Party (CPRF).
In the elections to the council of Suzdalsky Municipal District, 20 deputy mandates were up for election. Sixty-two candidates were registered and contested them: 20 from United Russia, 20 from the Pensioners’ Party, 14 from the LDPR, four from A Just Russia, three from the CPRF and one from the Rodina party.
In the elections to the council of the city district of Suzdal, 15 deputy mandates were up for election. Fifty candidates were registered and contested them: 15 from United Russia, 14 from the Pensioners’ Party, 12 from the LDPR, five from A Just Russia, two from the CPRF, one from the New People party and one independent.
Following the voting, all mandates went to candidates from United Russia.
In addition to the elections held as part of the municipal reform, a by-election for a deputy to the legislative assembly of Vladimir Oblast was held in the city of Gus-Khrustalny in single-mandate electoral district No. 15.
The reason for calling the election was the death of United Russia deputy Mikhail Maksyukov in a road accident in August last year.
Five registered candidates contested the mandate: Ivan Yakhayev from the United Russia party, Artem Moguchy from the LDPR, Alexander Shelekhov from the Pensioners’ Party, Yegor Solovyov from the New People party and Ragim Samirov from the CPRF.
Ivan Yakhayev took part in the election thanks to a victory in the United Russia preliminary vote. He was previously a member of the CPRF — during the 2022 gubernatorial election he was included in the list of potential candidates for Federation Council members proposed by the party’s regional committee first secretary Anton Sidorko. In 2024, while serving as an independent deputy and vice-speaker of the Gus-Khrustalny city council, Yakhayev, together with six other deputies, signed a statement demanding that an extraordinary session be convened to express no confidence in the head of the city, Alexei Sokolov.
One of the other deputies who signed the statement was today’s CPRF candidate Ragim Samirov, a sports instructor at the Gus-Khrustalny Integrated Sports School and a gold medallist at the world martial arts championship.
Artem Moguchy is a firefighter with the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for the city of Moscow.
Alexander Shelekhov is a student at Vladimir State University.
Yegor Solovyov is an individual entrepreneur.
A Just Russia candidate Viktor Shokhrin was denied registration for failing to submit the required documents — certificates of property, expenditure, income amounts and sources. Shokhrin was an independent deputy of the region’s legislative assembly for two convocations between 2005 and 2013, and from 2019 to the present has been a deputy of the Gus-Khrustalny city council.
The deputy sharply criticised the abolition of direct mayoral elections and actively opposed violations of electoral legislation. In 2024, Shokhrin also joined the initiative of Yakhayev and Samirov.
Following the voting, the deputy mandate went to Ivan Yakhayev from United Russia.
Khakassia: elections as a reflection of the republic-level conflict
Early elections for the head of Rastsvetovsky Village Council in Ust-Abakansky District were held in Khakassia.
The post became vacant following the high-profile sentence handed down to Anna Madison, who received a penalty of one year of correctional labour for dismantling a monument to those who died in the Great Patriotic War. Instead of the dilapidated structure, the head of the village council organised the construction of a new, modern memorial complex. In addition to the custodial sentence, she must also reimburse the costs of fully restoring the old monument.
Madison led the village council for almost nine years. In 2016, she won the election as an independent candidate. In 2021, she was re-elected from the Communists of Russia party.
There is a widespread view in the region that the entire story in Rastsvetovsky Village Council reflects the confrontation between the republican government headed by CPRF representative Valentin Konovalov and United Russia.
In September 2025, elections for a new convocation of the local representative body were held here, and as early as January this year, three United Russia deputies resigned. The process was accompanied by public criticism of the regional leadership, which was disseminated by numerous media outlets openly opposed to the incumbent governor’s team.
In the past head election, four registered candidates contested the post: one from the CPRF, one from the Communists of Russia party and two independents.
Following the voting, the CPRF candidate won.
Krasnodar Krai: change of heads in seven villages
Early elections of the heads of seven rural settlements were held in Krasnodar Krai: Fyodorovskoye, Pushkinskoye, Kuban, Veselovskoye, Staroleushkovskoye, Sennoye and Konokovskoye. However, the election of the head of Chernomorskoye urban settlement was postponed due to a shortage of registered candidates.
In the 2021 Chernomorskoye head election, the CPRF candidate — Vladimir Zhigulin, a member of the Environmental Watch on the North Caucasus — won. In June 2025, he was found guilty under Part 2 of Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of official powers by the head of a local government body) and was sentenced to three years of suspended imprisonment. The head had signed acceptance certificates for landscaping work in a local park that had not actually been carried out, worth 400,000 roubles. However, the prosecutor’s office considered the sentence excessively lenient and secured a review of the case. As a result, Vladimir Zhigulin received a real prison term of three years.
The early elections of the heads of Pushkinskoye and Kuban rural settlements were called because the officials moved to new jobs. The ex-head of Pushkinskoye, Alexei Kositsky, became acting head in Kuban, and the ex-head of Kuban, Vladimir Peplov, became deputy head of Kavkazsky District. Peplov and Kositsky, elected in September 2023, were nominated by United Russia.
The election in Konokovskoye rural settlement was called due to the passing of its head, Nikolai Yeliseyev, who had led it for almost 16 years.
The early elections of the heads of Fyodorovskoye, Veselovskoye, Staroleushkovskoye and Sennoye rural settlements were called because of the voluntary resignation of United Russia representatives Andrei Dubina, Yuri Yakovchenko, Roman Chepilov and Maxim Shlychkov.
In Sennoye, candidates from four political parties contested the post of head: United Russia, the CPRF, A Just Russia and New People.
In Fyodorovskoye, Pushkinskoye, Kuban, Veselovskoye, Staroleushkovskoye and Konokovskoye rural settlements, the slate of candidates was identical: one United Russia representative and two independents took part in each campaign.
Following the voting, in all seven rural settlements the posts of head went to United Russia candidates.
22 March in Russia
Twenty-six candidates contested the posts of heads of eight municipalities.
Five candidates contested a deputy mandate in a representative body of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation.
One hundred and eighty-eight candidates contested 60 deputy mandates in the representative bodies of four municipalities in majoritarian electoral districts.
Total since the start of the new electoral cycle
Since the single voting day on 14 September 2025, 27 electoral campaigns for the heads of municipalities have taken place. Seventy-six candidates took part in them.
An election for a deputy to the representative body of one constituent entity of the Russian Federation took place. Five candidates took part. One candidate from United Russia was elected as a deputy.
Elections of deputies to 75 local representative bodies took place; 373 deputy mandates were up for election. Eight hundred and fourteen candidates were registered in majoritarian districts.
