Voice intrigues: a wave of hacker attacks is expected in Russia by the beginning of the elections

By the beginning of the Unified Voting Day (EDG), which will be held from September 12 to 14 in 81 regions of the Russian Federation, a peak in hacker attacks on the electronic voting system (EEG) is expected. But this will not prevent Russians from expressing their will, Oleg Artamonov, chairman of the DEG territorial election commission, told Izvestia. Direct elections of the governor will be held in 20 regions of the Russian Federation, and deputies to legislative assemblies — in 11. Experts are sure that surprises should not be expected, and the campaign itself will become the prologue to the elections to the State Duma – 2026. The state in which the regions are approaching the current EDG is described in the Izvestia article.

Attacks on the DEG system

On a single voting day, which will be held from September 12 to 14 in 81 regions of the Russian Federation, hacker attacks on the DEG system are expected to peak, Oleg Artamonov told Izvestia. But the system, according to him, is ready for this, no failures are expected.

— The peak of hacker attacks will probably occur on the first day, but we do not expect any significant consequences for the system. If the scammers fail [to successfully carry out a hacker attack] during the first day, then many people's excitement fades and they leave this business," said the chairman of TICK TAG.

Hacker attacks are usually carried out either for political purposes or for self-promotion on the black market of services. Special services of foreign countries are unlikely to be involved in the upcoming elections. As of today, the DEG system is fully ready for voting, Artamonov said.

— It passed the all-Russian testing on September 3-4 in the same configuration in which it will be used in the elections. Neither the observers nor the commission had any comments on the results of this testing," he explained.

Earlier, the chairman of the TIC DEG noted that some parties should be "scolded" for sending few observers to the elections, hoping for the work of public figures. A total of 60 people have been registered as observers from the public chambers of the regions.

Electronic voting will be held in 24 regions of the Russian Federation. To participate in it, Russians need to submit an application in advance on the Gosuslugi portal. On August 20, the chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, Ella Pamfilova, announced that almost 870,000 voters had applied to participate in the DEG, which broke the record of last year.

Among the leaders in the number of applications submitted, the head of the Central Election Commission singled out the Rostov region — 179 thousand, Chuvashia — 143 thousand and the Sverdlovsk region — 31 thousand. Also, more than 76.5 thousand people applied to participate in voting through the Mobile Voter online platform. It will allow Russians to vote at their place of residence, being away from home and their polling station.

Where will the gubernatorial elections be held in 2025

Election commissions in all regions of the Russian Federation are fully prepared to hold elections at various levels, said Nikolai Bulaev, Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Russia.

— The readiness of [election commissions for the EDG] is 100%. The elections are big — 20 gubernatorial ones, as well as a significant number of legislative assembly elections, and so on. As of today, there is a willingness. We have fully launched the new digital State automated system Vybory 2.0, which will work throughout Russia," he said.

Governors will be elected in 21 regions of the Russian Federation. Direct elections will be held in 20 regions: Komi, Tatarstan, Chuvashia, Sevastopol, Arkhangelsk, Bryansk, Irkutsk, Kaluga, Kostroma, Kursk, Leningrad, Novgorod, Orenburg, Rostov, Sverdlovsk, Tambov and Jewish Autonomous Regions (EAO), as well as in Kamchatka, Perm and Krasnodar Territories. The head of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO) will be chosen by the district assembly of deputies.

A total of 134 candidates were nominated for the election of the heads of regions. Of these, 94 nominees from 11 parties were registered. Most of the candidates are represented by parliamentary parties: United Russia (19 people), LDPR (18), Communist Party (17), Just Russia – For Truth (15) and New People (7).

To become governor, candidates need to get more than 50% of the votes in the elections. If this does not happen, then a second round is scheduled, where two nominating leaders pass. At the same time, in the upcoming elections, one should not expect that the matter may reach the second round, Dmitry Orlov, Director General of the Agency for Political and Economic Communications, told Izvestia.

— The level of opposition sentiment is above average in Irkutsk, Kostroma, Novgorod, Sverdlovsk regions, as well as in the Komi Republic. But this will not prevent the dominance of governors and acting governors going to the elections based on the results of the campaigns. The fact is that the opposition is conducting weak mobilization campaigns, and the fundamental willingness of citizens who are critical of the government to participate in the elections is relatively low," he explained.

Of the most interesting regions, experts pay attention to the Irkutsk region, where the current head of the region, Igor Kobzev from United Russia, and the former head of the region from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Sergei Levchenko, will compete for the governor's seat. For the first time in many years, the incumbent governor is opposed by his predecessor.

Opinion polls show that Kobzev's team was able to propose to the Angara people a strategy for the future of the region that meets the real needs of people and is based on the experience of successful projects of the governor during his first term, Ruslan Andreev, an expert at the Polylogue Group and a political strategist, told Izvestia.

Experts also noted the confident positions of the only representative of the fair sex in the gubernatorial elections, Maria Kostyuk, who will fight for the post of head of the EAO.

According to them, Kostyuk set an example for male governors of how to simultaneously be a "strong hand" in economic matters - successfully carry out the heating season, solve long—standing problems in housing and communal services, healthcare — and at the same time conduct an election campaign based on constant face-to-face meetings with people, where openness and honesty are important first of all. caring for and sharing the problems of citizens.

Previously, Kostyuk was the head of the "Time of Heroes" program, where she discussed the problems of the region at a meeting with Vladimir Putin. The President of the Russian Federation supported her projects to change life in the EAO, in particular, to restore agriculture. "This signal of support is, of course, read by the voters," Ruslan Andreev is sure.

It is worth noting separately that two participants of the Central Election Commission are participating in the gubernatorial elections: Evgeny Pervyshov, acting head of the Tambov Region, and Stepan Solovyov, deputy chairman of the Green Alternative party, who will be elected governor of Komi.

How will the elections of deputies be held in the regions?

Elections to local parliaments and legislative assemblies will be held in 11 regions of the Russian Federation. Together with them, deputies will be appointed to representative bodies of administrative centers at the municipal level in 25 cities. As of August 12, 1,395 veterans of the Central Military District will take part in them, the CEC of the Russian Federation reported.

Earlier, Sergei Perminov, a member of the United Russia General Council, stated that the party's goal was to get 75+1% in each regional government body in order to form political majority factions.

The main struggle will unfold for the second places, where the LDPR and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation will compete with each other.

— In the legislative assembly elections, an active struggle for second place between the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Liberal Democratic Party is taking place in the Magadan, Kurgan, Ryazan, Novosibirsk and Kaluga regions. In the Chelyabinsk Region, the SRWP traditionally strives to keep the second place," Dmitry Orlov notes.

Experts pay special attention to the Komi Republic, where the Communist Party of the Russian Federation traditionally has strong support. "Taking into account the fact that Oleg Mikhailov, the Communist candidate, is not participating in the gubernatorial race, the local cell has sent all its forces to the elections to the State Council of the Republic and the Syktyvkar Council," Ruslan Andreev noted.

In general, the elections to the legislative assemblies of the regions and administrative city centers will be the most significant prologue to the elections to the State Duma in 2026. They will show the real political forces of the parties, reflecting their strengths and weaknesses.