Authorities in Kyiv have called the voting in those territories illegal and urged foreign governments and international organisations not to recognize the election.

They warned Ukrainians that taking part in organising the vote could carry criminal liability.

A coalition of nine Ukrainian human rights groups called on residents of the Russia-held territories to stay away from the polls.

“We urge residents of the temporarily occupied territories, above all, to protect their lives and health and to look after their own safety,” the coalition said in a statement.

“Holding Russian elections in the temporarily occupied territories is an attempt to use the electoral process to legitimize the Russian occupation and the attempted annexation of Ukrainian territories.”

European Commission spokesperson Christian Wigand said the voting in Russian-held regions represented "another blatant violation of international law.

The European Union does not, and will never recognize either the holding of these, so-called elections, sham elections, in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine or their results.”

Pictures show people casting their ballot for Russia’s parliamentary election.

Mounting defence expenditure is widening Russia’s budget deficit and increasing strain across its wartime economy, as business and consumer sentiment weakens and economic growth slows.

Economists note, however, that these difficulties do not point to an immediate financial meltdown or economic collapse. High global oil prices linked to the Iran war continue to shore up essential export revenues, allowing the state to fund its four-and-a-half-year-old invasion of Ukraine – for now.

In addition, low unemployment rates and generous government spending in poorer regions are helping to suppress domestic discontent.

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."

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.

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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.