Russian Federation continues to violate international commitments in a worrying pattern failing to invite OSCE observers to parliamentary elections

Joint statement of 6 August 2026 in which the leaders of ODIHR and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly said Russia's decision not to invite OSCE observers to the State Duma election was not in line with the commitment in the 1990 Copenhagen Document to invite observers. ODIHR's standard pre-election dialogue, including a proposed needs assessment mission, received no substantive response, making this the third consecutive nationwide vote the OSCE could not observe, after the 2021 Duma and 2024 presidential elections. The statement lists legal changes since 2021 that bar people designated 'foreign agents' from standing, further limit campaign financing and restrict the appointment of polling-station representatives, describes independent citizen observation as severely curtailed after the dissolution of Golos, and says the results of any voting organised in occupied Ukrainian territory will have no validity under international law.