Russia’s parliamentary election has triggered a diplomatic row with Moldova over its objections to the Kremlin’s plan to open 15 polling stations for Russian nationals in the separatist Transdniestria Region.

Moscow says 220,000 ⁠residents of pro-Russian Transdniestria, a sliver of land which broke away from Moldova in 1990 at the end of Soviet rule, hold Russian passports and are entitled to vote on Sunday ⁠in the election for the ​State ⁠Duma.

Transdniestria is not ⁠internationally recognised, not even by Moscow, though a Russian military contingent of ‌some 1,500 troops, ​which Russia sometimes describes as ‌peacekeepers, remains stationed there despite demands ​from Moldova for them to leave.

Moldova’s pro-Western government, which wants to join the European Union by 2030 and denounces the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, says Russians may vote only in a single polling station in the Russian embassy in the capital Chisinau.

It contests the 220,000 figure and opposes any polling station in Transdniestria, where it ‌has no control over procedures.

An inquiry has been launched after a Ukrainian activist and critic of Putin’s Russia was found dead in Portugal.

The body of Ukrainian activist Pavlo Sadokha was discovered in Quarteira, a coastal town in the Algarve region, on Sunday.

Russian authorities reported multiple attacks on voting systems and communication lines across the country on Saturday during a parliamentary election running from September 18 to 20.

The online voting system in Moscow was subjected to a strong attack overnight during a parliamentary election, but the situation remains ⁠under control, the Interfax ​news ⁠agency cited the Central Election Commission’s head as saying.

The attacks were continuing, but all were being successfully repelled, Ella Pamfilova said, according to state media.

Separately, Russia’s digital ministry said it had registered a sabotage attempt on communication ‌lines in the country’s Far East, ‌but that the attack had been thwarted and all communication had been restored, state media reported.

Russians began voting on Friday in a three-day parliamentary election.

President Vladimir Putin earlier accused Ukraine of trying to interfere with the vote, without providing evidence.

The result of the election is likely to be held ‌up by the Kremlin as evidence of ​widespread public support for Putin’s policies ‌and, in particular, ⁠for his prosecution of Europe’s deadliest conflict ⁠since World War Two, now in its fifth ‌year.

Russian strikes on Ukraine killed five and injured 15 more, Ukrainian authorities said.

The Russian Armed Forces launched missile strikes, KAB aerial bombs, and various types of drones against Kharkiv and 14 other settlements in the region, according to Head of Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Oleh Syniehubov.

Ukrainians in territories occupied by Russia are being “held at gunpoint” and forced to vote in parliamentary elections that “bear no resemblance to democracy,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry has warned.

“This is a farce orchestrated by the occupying state; it bears no resemblance to democratic elections and establishes no legal grounds for extending Russian jurisdiction to any part of Ukraine’s territory,” a statement from the ministry said.

Poland ⁠has concluded the preventive military aviation operations that it ⁠started ​earlier ⁠on Saturday amid Russian strikes ⁠on Ukraine, ​the ⁠Polish army ‌said in a post on X.

Ground-based air defense systems and radar reconnaissance were returned to standard operational activities after the army activated them for a state of readiness, it added.

There ​was no ‌violation of ⁠Polish airspace, ⁠the army said.

Russia is not aware of the possibility that Washington may want to sign deals with Moscow before the Ukraine conflict is over, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the RIA state news agency on Saturday.

The New York Times reported ⁠this week, citing two ​people close ⁠to the peace ‌talks, that the White House is now considering signing business ‌deals with Russia ‌before it stops fighting in Ukraine.

“I don’t know anything about such signals, and it would be strange to receive them, because we still hear exactly the opposite stance, namely, ‘Let’s agree on Ukraine and move forward, and everything else later,'” Ryabkov told RIA.

“Everything ‌else, as ⁠they say, will be ⁠attached. This also applies to economic ‌aspects, economic ​projects, too.”

Russian forces committed widespread sexual violence against civilians and prisoners of war in Ukraine, including gang rape and electric shocks to the genitals, while Ukrainian authorities were also responsible for a smaller number of violations, ⁠the UN human rights office said in a report on Friday.

The report documented 1,004 verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence between February 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and July 2026.

Of those cases, 89 per cent were attributed to the Russian side, including members of the armed forces, prison service and security agencies, while 11 per cent were linked to Ukraine, including members of the Ukrainian armed forces.

Russia’s permanent diplomatic mission in ⁠Geneva declined to comment on the report.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a ​statement ⁠it welcomed the publication of the report, which it said showed the scale of the human rights violations perpetrated by Russia and the measures being taken by Ukraine to prevent such violence and compensate victims.

The statement did ⁠not comment directly on the findings of incidents of abuse by Ukrainian forces.

The report cautioned that the findings were ​not comprehensive because ⁠conflict-related sexual violence remains significantly under-reported.

It said Russia’s ‌refusal to grant the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights access to occupied Ukrainian territory, prisoners of war and civilian detainees meant the figures likely underestimate the true scale of the violations.

In occupied areas of Ukraine and ‌within Russia, Russian authorities carried out sexual violence against Ukrainian prisoners of war and ‌detained civilians at all stages of captivity, including during capture, transfer, interrogation and detention, the report said.

Violations included gang rape, rape, genital mutilation and the use of electric shocks on men’s genitals with a Soviet-era field telephone known as a “tapik”. The findings were based on interviews with victims of sexual violence committed by ⁠both sides.

Most victims in detention were men, particularly prisoners of war and detainees, although women and children were also affected, mainly in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

“Sexual violence in conflict is often misunderstood to be mainly affecting women and girls, where in the Ukraine war context, the majority of survivors are men,” Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said.

“And men and women require different solutions and approaches to their recovery,” she said.

The report concluded that Russia had failed to take steps to prevent, investigate or prosecute sexual violence committed by its personnel and had not engaged with OHCHR’s requests ‌for information.

Ukrainians in territories occupied by Russia are being “held at gunpoint” and forced to vote in parliamentary elections that “bear no resemblance to democracy,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry has warned.

“This is a farce orchestrated by the occupying state; it bears no resemblance to democratic elections and establishes no legal grounds for extending Russian jurisdiction to any part of Ukraine’s territory,” a statement from the ministry said.