Russia's ruling party has won the country's parliamentary election. Vladimir Putin hailed the United Russia victory as a very good result. None of the smaller opposition parties got through the 5% barrier. The turnout was less than 48% for the whole country and numerous violations were reported during the vote.

It was a result that came as no surprise.. The ruling United Russia party, backed by Vladimir Putin, won the Parliamentary election with more than 54% of the votes. The party now gets a constitutional majority in the State Duma, becoming even more dominant than before and ensuring more support for the Russian President than ever.

"It is hard, it is difficult, but people still vote for the United Russia. I think what does this tell us? First of all it tells us that people see that the representatives of the United Russia, the leading political force, are really doing their best for the people," Putin said.

Fourteen parties took part in the election. Only two of them openly oppose Vladimir Putin. However, these parties failed to get over the 5% threshold, a requirement for the State Duma. They said that in the run-up to the election they were denied air time on national television and were defamed in reports on state TV.

"It is clear that the election were not free and fair, that's what we were saying in the beginning when we started the election campaign. Now we will be talking about the third factor - how trust worthy is the information about the vote," Leader of Opposition Party Parnas Mikhail Kasyanov said.

The election was seen as a test for Vladimir Putin’s expected Presidential campaign in 2018. The results show that the Russian President has a firm grip on power in the country. However, the turnout was at a record low, at less than 48% as many Russians feel their vote will not change anything.

Numerous violations were reported during the election day. Some ballot box stuffing was even caught on camera. There were also reports of public sector employees being pressured to vote. All of this raises many questions about the victory of United Russia.