State Duma

The State Duma is the lower house of the Russian Federal Assembly, comprising 450 deputies elected on a mixed proportional and constituency basis. In practice the chamber operates as a rubber-stamp legislature: since the start of full-scale operations in Ukraine, it has authorised all wartime legal measures without meaningful debate or opposition. Its most significant recent international exposure came when a Duma delegation led by Foreign Affairs Committee chair Vyacheslav Nikonov visited the US Congress on 26 March 2026, invited by Rep Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) with State Department authorisation — all delegation members were under EU sanctions at the time.

The Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee, under Nikonov, is the principal legislative instrument for signalling Kremlin diplomatic positions to foreign audiences. Duma delegations historically served an intelligence-gathering and track-two diplomatic function even during periods of formal hostility. The March 2026 Congress visit was the first such interaction since Russia's full-scale invasion, and was criticised by EU partners who noted the sanctions status of all participants.

Domestically, the Duma has enabled the war economy through successive wartime legislation: mobilisation laws, press censorship, property confiscation from those deemed to have 'discredited' the military, and legal frameworks for occupied territories. In early May 2026, a Communist Party Duma member publicly invoked '1917' in reference to Russia's fiscal trajectory after Economic Development Minister Reshetnikov projected the National Wealth Fund's liquid share could fall to $12.5 billion by year-end — roughly a quarter of its February value. The reference is striking given the CPRF's role as a tolerated opposition: dissent within the Duma on fiscal grounds is rare and typically signals pressure the Kremlin itself is managing carefully.