Russian Duma Adjourns After Passing Wave of Repressive And War-Funding Bills, Setting New Historical Record

Russia’s State Duma  concluded its eighth convocation on July 27, 2026, after passing a record-breaking 2,980 laws over four years, The Moscow Times reported on July 27.

This has established an unprecedented legislative spree heavily focused on expanding state control and repressing domestic dissent.

Controlled by a dominant United Russia majority holding 325 of 450 seats, the lower house of parliament far outperformed every previous convocation in modern Russian history. The legislature passed 308 more laws than the previous convocation and surpassed the early 2010s parliament—famously dubbed the “mad printer” for its rapid passage of state controls—by more than 1,100 bills, The Moscow Times wrote.

Over its ten legislative sessions, the parliament instituted an array of draconian statutes aimed at silencing opposition to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and restricting civil liberties. Lawmakers criminalized speech deemed as military “fakes” or “discrediting” the armed forces, outlawed “LGBT propaganda,” permitted out-of-court media blockades, and repeatedly tightened foreign agent restrictions, according to the publication.

In 2026, the Duma further expanded security state authority by granting the Federal Security Service (FSB) power to shut off internet access and telecommunications, while authorizing asset freezes, banking restrictions, and passport denials for political emigrants and draft evaders operating abroad.

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Alongside domestic crackdowns, the Duma overhauled Russia’s economic framework to prioritize wartime spending over social welfare, according to the outlet. During its tenure, lawmakers quadrupled defense spending to 13 trillion rubles ($150 billion)—reaching a post-Soviet record of 30% of the total state budget—while cutting social support funding to a 15-year low and raising corporate, income, and value-added taxes to sustain military operations, The Moscow Times reported.

Addressing the chamber at its final plenary session, Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin stated that the parliament’s primary focus was fulfilling directives from the Russian leader Vladimir Putin and supporting Russian military forces fighting in Ukraine. Calling on deputies to maintain “strategic endurance” against attempts to destabilize society, Volodin claimed that “the Kyiv bloody neo-Nazi regime is committing all conceivable and unthinkable crimes against the civilian population [and] civilian infrastructure, doing everything to create tension,” according to The Moscow Times.

To target anti-war networks operating abroad, Russia’s State Duma had recently passed legislation blocking dissidents convicted in absentia from accessing remote banking, managing domestic property, or obtaining consular services.

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