Russians head to the polls to choose lawmakers for their parliament

Russians head to the polls to choose lawmakers for their parliament, the Duma. It's Russia's first nationwide parliamentary race since launching its full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Transcript MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: Beginning today and through the weekend, Russians head to the polls to choose lawmakers for their parliament. This is Russia's first nationwide parliamentary race since launching its full-scale invasion in Ukraine more than 4 1/2 years ago. But don't expect the war to be up for debate in this election. From Moscow, NPR's Charles Maynes has our story.CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Here was the scene in Central Moscow last month. A group of several hundred people had gathered outside Russia's Supreme Court, most of them young and clearly nervous from the scores of police watching.RISHA: Myself, I'm a Christian, and I think that there shouldn't be any war going on, like, anywhere.MAYNES: Risha is a recent high school graduate who requested we only use his first name out of fear of government reprisals over his opposition to the invasion of Ukraine, which brings us back to the courthouse and why he was here.RISHA: Today, we are here to support Yabloko and people who are r...