MOSCOW (Realist English). The period from 22 to 28 April was one of the most intense in Russia’s domestic politics since the start of 2026.
The president addressed the Council of Legislators, the Central Bank cut the key rate for the third consecutive time, the CPRF approved its pre‑election programme “From Survival to Development” at its plenum, and security forces were given carte blanche to ensure safety ahead of the September State Duma elections.
Parliamentary week: laws, ratifications and Putin’s return to campaigning
End of the Duma’s spring session
On 22 April, the State Duma considered more than 25 bills at its plenary session, of which 12 were adopted in the first reading, five in the second reading and four in the third reading. Deputies ratified an agreement with Togo, signed in November 2025, aimed at developing mutually beneficial cooperation in the political, trade‑economic and cultural‑humanitarian spheres, as well as an agreement with Nicaragua on military‑technical cooperation.
Among the adopted laws, the following deserve special attention:
- State control over industrial products. A new form of state control is established — supervision over compliance with mandatory requirements for certain types of industrial products (authorised body — Rosstandart).
- Service housing for cosmonauts. Roscosmos is granted the authority to provide service residential premises to cosmonauts.
- Ban on transferring federal lands to municipal ownership. Forest plots, lands in specially protected natural areas, in special economic zones and those containing state construction projects are forbidden to be transferred from federal to municipal ownership.
- All‑Russian Congress of Judges. It was decided to convene the All‑Russian Congress of Judges once every five years. In 2026, the congress is to be held on the 10th anniversary of the previous one, for the tenth time.
- State flag on sports facilities. The Duma approved in the first reading a bill on the mandatory display of the State Flag of the Russian Federation at physical culture and sports facilities, both state‑owned and during official competitions.
Changes to electoral legislation
On 21 April, deputies adopted in the third reading a bill amending electoral legislation. The most resonant change is the return of the right to use in campaign materials the image of a person who is not a candidate. According to the Analytical Centre of the Yabloko party, this means the return to campaigning of photographs of President Vladimir Putin, which were previously banned from use regardless of the candidate’s consent.
At the same time, a ban is introduced on the use in campaigning of images or voices generated by neural networks without the written consent of the originals. The law also removes the mention of “electronic voting complexes” (EVC) from the document, leaving only “technical means”, and introduces electronic forms of summary tables and protocols of voting results without regulating access to them.
President’s statements: from the Council of Legislators to global forecasts
Council of Legislators: 120 years of parliamentarism and a call not to fixate on bans
On 27 April, a meeting of the Council of Legislators at the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation was held at the Tauride Palace in St. Petersburg, timed to coincide with the 120th anniversary of Russian parliamentarism. “Today is a historic date: 120 years ago, the first meeting of the State Duma took place in this very hall,” Putin began his speech.
The head of state thanked legislators for their contribution to overcoming trials and noted that the political system had “proved its strength and stability, its genuine sovereignty, its readiness to fight for the vital interests of the Fatherland.”
The key thesis of the speech was a warning against excessive regulation. “One cannot fixate solely on bans and restrictions. Excessive barriers hinder development. These are all temporary, passing phenomena. But Russia is eternal,” Putin said.
He called for the legislative process to be not only adaptive but also creative. “You are not only a legislative but also a representative branch of power,” Putin stressed. “When adopting laws, you are obliged to monitor their implementation, to be in constant contact with the people, to hear and respect their opinion. To proceed from real, sometimes seemingly mundane situations, so that laws do not become detached from life.”
Separately, the president supported the United Russia initiative to postpone the repayment of regions’ budget credit debt from 2026 to a later date.
Security zone on the border with Ukraine
On 22 April, at a meeting with representatives of the municipal community, Putin announced the gradual creation of a security zone on the border with Ukraine. “The security zone is gradually being created on the adjacent territory. We will continue to act this way until we eliminate the threat to our border regions,” the president said.
Outcome of the SMO: ‘We know how it will all end’
At the same meeting, Putin made a statement about the outcome of the special military operation. “We know how it will all end, but we will not make any public statements on that score,” the president said, answering a remark by a politician from Nizhny Novgorod. “We will simply implement and strive for the goals that we have set for ourselves.”
Global South and the West’s loss of leadership
On 28 April, in a video address to participants of the international forum “Open Dialogue” (uniting more than 120 countries), Putin spoke of a profound transformation of the world order.
“Previous approaches and established norms are gradually losing force, partly due to the actions of Western states, which are losing their leadership positions, giving way to new centres of growth, the countries of the Global South,” the president said. “A more complex, multipolar architecture of world development is being formed literally before our eyes,” he added.
Preparation for elections: security forces put on high alert
On 28 April, Putin held a meeting at the Kremlin on security ahead of the State Duma elections scheduled for 20 September 2026. All law enforcement agencies were placed on maximum combat readiness.
“The risks of terrorist threats are growing. Both the Kyiv regime and its patrons have resorted to openly terrorist methods,” Putin said. “Attempts to commit acts of sabotage and terrorism, manifestations of an extremist nature must be suppressed in the most decisive and harsh manner,” the president demanded. He also ordered the protection of state information services, including the CEC’s digital system, from external interference.
Economy: Central Bank cuts rate to 14.5%, inflation slows to 5.77%, experts at MEF sound the alarm
Key rate decision
On 24 April, the Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia decided to cut the key rate by 50 basis points to 14.5% per annum. This was the eighth consecutive rate cut. The regulator explained that “the dynamics of domestic demand have approached the possibilities of expanding the supply of goods and services.”
The forecast average key rate for 2026 is now 14–14.5%, and for 2027 — 8–10% (compared with 8–9% in the February forecast).
Although market participants reacted neutrally to this decision (Alexander Murychev, Vice President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, called the 0.25–0.5 percentage point increase in the 2026 rate forecast “insignificant”), representatives of the real economy insist that this is not enough.
Inflation slowing down
According to Rosstat, the consumer price index for the period from 14 to 20 April 2026 was 100.01%. Since the beginning of April, price growth was 0.18%; since the beginning of the year — 3.16%. Annual inflation as of 20 April was recorded at 5.77%, down from 5.86% a week earlier.
Conservative forecast of the Ministry of Economic Development
According to an updated conservative forecast of Russia’s socio‑economic development, GDP growth in 2026 will be 0.8%, in 2027 — 1.5%, and in 2028 — 1.9%.
Expert opinion: Central Bank policy leads to degradation
On 7–8 April, the jubilee X Moscow Economic Forum (MEF‑2026) was held in Moscow under the motto “From Cooling to Development”. The participants (2,000 people, more than 120 experts, 30 countries) reached a harsh, consolidated assessment of the current monetary policy.
“Critical comments about the Bank of Russia’s work are heard from industrialists, raw material producers and even some bankers,” the report notes. “Would anyone say that the Central Bank’s policy is aimed at modernising and developing the real economy? I think no one would.”
The Chairman of the Moscow Economic Forum, Konstantin Babkin, offered an ironic assessment of Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina’s policy: “Her task is to cool the economy. All capacities are loaded, there is no unemployment, too many people are working — we need to work less, invest less and reduce the load on industrial enterprises.”
Political opposition: III Plenum of the CPRF Central Committee and the ‘Victory’ programme
On 25 April, the III (April) joint plenum of the CPRF Central Committee and the Central Control and Auditing Commission was held in the Moscow region. The main issue was the approval of the pre‑election programme “Victory of the CPRF — a course from survival to development and justice”. According to party analysts, the plenum became a “point of no return” in assessing current domestic policy.
Key theses from CPRF leader Gennady Zyuganov’s report
On social stratification:
“One hundred and fifty people [oligarchs] have more money than the 150‑million people who are waging war. The total wealth of this bunch of rich people has approached a record — 700 billion dollars. In rubles, that’s almost a third more than the budget. There is no other such country on the planet!”
“We have lost 31 million Russians since the 1990s! That’s 10 million more than in World War II! If the people are dying out and becoming impoverished at an accelerating pace, the country has no future.”
On poverty and citizens’ pleas:
“I am ashamed to admit it, but I am obliged to. I receive a huge amount of mail. I never used to get such requests. The most common request now is to help give birth to a child and help bury a loved one. To get your teeth fixed and to educate a child. Think about where things are heading!”
Zyuganov read out a letter from a teacher with a pension of 22,000 rubles: “The housing bill came to 12,000. That left me 10,000. If I buy medicine, there’s no money for food. If I buy food, there’s no money for medicine. Why did you put a noose around my neck?”
On criticism of the Central Bank:
“Yesterday I heard: it turns out the space for rate cuts has narrowed. What does ‘narrowed’ mean? In the cemetery, everything is the same for everyone, and indeed inflation there is zero! But you cannot treat a living economy like that.”
“Prices for basic building materials — sand, clay, rebar — are rising several times over for no apparent reason (especially since they are not imported from the US), while regulators simply throw up their hands, admitting their own helplessness.”
On corruption and the break with the people:
“The loss of 31 million Russian people since 1990 is a figure exceeding the losses in the Great Patriotic War.”
The ranks of the CPRF at the plenum were joined by participants of the Special Military Operation, workers and students from eight regions.
Regional and social policy: new national projects and support for large families
At the Council of Legislators, Putin particularly stressed that support for large families is a priority national task. The government announced the structure of the new national projects “Family” and “Youth and Children”, which are intended to combine social support measures, demographic policy and the upbringing of the younger generation.
Expert opinions: legitimacy, resources and elections
A number of analysts (including experts from the Centre for the Study of Russia’s Political Culture), commenting on the outcomes of the CPRF plenum and the pre‑election situation, agree that by the spring of 2026 the authorities had exhausted the resources of “legitimacy”. In their view, “the social contract of the 2000s, based on exchanging freedom for stability, has been completely destroyed.”
The 2026 elections will take place under unprecedentedly difficult conditions — against the backdrop of the Special Military Operation, sanctions, economic stagnation and growing protest potential. Experts from URA.RU also predict that this time the elections are complicated not only by external and internal factors — sanctions, pressure on business — but also by the impossibility for the authorities to promise a real improvement in living standards due to the exhaustion of “plentiful” oil and gas revenues.
