Before the State Duma elections, at least four Russian regions introduced restrictions or recommendations related to brilliant green and other coloring liquids, The Insider found. In the Tyumen region, pharmacies were advised not to sell such products in large batches.
In Tyumen, ahead of the three-day vote on September 18–20, pharmacies were advised to limit the sale of brilliant green, iodine, and other coloring antiseptics. One pharmacist told 72.RU that police asked them not to hand out more than five packages of such products to one person, but pharmacy staff did not receive a formal ban or written order.
In Surgut, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, the restrictions were directly included in the official election preparation plan; the document is in the редакции's possession. It says that lists of prohibited items must be posted at the entrances to the polling stations, separately naming coloring liquids and flammable substances that “may be used as a protest action”, and that additional cabinets must be installed for voters' belongings.
In the Kostroma region, police announced that coloring and flammable liquids, as well as sharp and cutting objects, may not be brought into polling stations. Metal detectors will be installed at all 448 stations, and every day about 700 police officers, more than 100 National Guard personnel, and around 80 private security employees will be on duty there.
In the Chelyabinsk region, regional police also warned that weapons, ammunition, sharp and cutting objects, as well as the coloring substances specifically mentioned in the list, may not be brought into polling stations. According to the report, similar measures appeared after a series of incidents during the 2024 presidential election, when ballot boxes in different regions were doused with brilliant green, ink, and other liquids and arson attacks were carried out.
The Insider wrote that attempts to set fire to or douse ballot boxes with liquid were recorded at 29 polling stations in 20 regions. Against the backdrop of these cases, campaigns with major prizes are also being held in several regions: in Moscow, participants in the “Million Prizes” program who vote electronically or using terminals at polling stations are promised at least 1,000 city points each, and prizes worth 3,000, 5,000, 10,000, and 50,000 points will be raffled among them.
In Krasnoyarsk Krai, from September 18 to 20, alongside the elections, the local-history “Quiz-2026” will take place. Among 369 gifts, three apartments, six cars, 90 smartphones, 90 smart speakers, 90 smartwatches, and 90 pairs of wireless headphones will be raffled; quiz forms will be handed out near polling stations, and participation in the vote itself is not a condition for receiving the prize. Even more prizes are planned in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug as part of the “Yugra — Together!” quiz: the organizers promise several thousand gifts, including six apartments, three cars, 14 quad bikes, bicycles, televisions, smartphones, and household appliances, and to participate one must answer at least three of the five questions.
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