United Russia
통합 러시아
The ruling party of the Russian Federation, formed on 1 December 2001 through the merger of Unity, Fatherland – All Russia and others. A “party of power” supporting the policies of President Vladimir Putin, it has been the majority party in the State Duma since 2003. Putin was its formal leader in 2008–2012, and Dmitry Medvedev has been its chairman since 2012.
In depth
Its predecessor, Unity, was hastily created with Kremlin backing three months before the December 1999 Duma election to counter Yuri Luzhkov and Yevgeny Primakov’s Fatherland – All Russia, and was led by Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu. As Prime Minister Putin’s popularity rose with the Chechen war, Unity won 23.3%, well ahead of Fatherland – All Russia (13.3%) and within one percentage point of the Communists (24.3%). In April 2001 the two blocs began unifying, founding the Union of Unity and Fatherland in July, and in December, joined by All Russia, it became the All-Russian Party “Unity and Fatherland” – United Russia. The English-language source says Our Home – Russia joined later, whereas the Russian-language source includes it in the 2001 merger.
At the founding congress Shoigu, Luzhkov and Mintimer Shaimiev were elected co-chairs of the Supreme Council. Boris Gryzlov became party leader at the Second Congress in March 2003, and after winning 37.57% in the December 2003 election the party shortened its name to United Russia that month. In the 2007 election, with Putin the only name on its national list, it won 64.3%, its best result; the monitoring group Golos alleged numerous violations of election law. On 7 May 2008 Putin became party leader without becoming a member, and on 26 May 2012 the 13th Congress elected Medvedev chairman.
In May 2011 Putin proposed the All-Russia People’s Front, bringing together the party, trade unions, youth and veterans’ organisations and others, whose representatives took part in United Russia’s list and primaries for the 2011 Duma election. The party was criticised for nominating candidates other than the winners of its 2016 primaries, and in the 2021 Duma election it retained its supermajority despite polls showing support of around 30%, leading to widespread allegations of fraud. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 it opened an aid centre in Mariupol, and in December 2022 it was sanctioned by the European Union.
According to the English-language source the party holds 349 of the 450 seats in the State Duma as of 2026; although it proclaimed Russian conservatism its official ideology in 2009, political scientists classify it as a “big-tent party” or “party of power” relying on pro-Putin and non-ideological voters. The Russian-language source notes that it is criticised for lacking ideological depth, for corruption and for its role in “managed democracy”, and that its electoral successes are often attributed to manipulation rather than popularity.