Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of Regions Calling, your guide to developments beyond the Russian capital from The Moscow Times.

Russia’s fifth wartime elections dominated regional coverage over the past week, with more than 45,000 government positions up for grabs across 80 regions, including 19 gubernatorial, 11 parliamentary and 25 city council races. The races were accompanied by widespread reports of electoral fraud, including tried-and-true tactics of carousel voting and ballot stuffing.

Though a few gubernatorial races, namely in the Irkutsk and Arkhangelsk regions, initially promised some suspense, all resulted in sweeping victories of United Russia-backed incumbents.

The ruling party also emerged victorious in regional parliamentary races, taking 81% of all available seats in the regions, according to preliminary results. Still, a few surprise opposition victories came out of the Kostroma region and the republic of Tyva.

Local-level elections were the only ones to result in notable upsets for United Russia. Candidates backed by the Communist and New People parties, as well as those listed as independents — though some with likely ties to the ruling party — emerged victorious in several races for district and city heads in the republics of Sakha, Buryatia and Khakassia.

With regional elections over, the new school year in full swing and lawmakers returning to work, this seems like the perfect time to look back at where and how Russians chose to spend their summer holidays — decisions that provide important clues for the public mood and the economy.

But first, here is what else you might have missed in Russia’s regions and ethnic republics:

The Headlines

Anti-Kremlin Yakutian shaman Alexander Gabyshev was transferred from a high-security psychiatric facility in the Primorye region to a general hospital in Yakutsk, the capital of his native republic of Sakha, following a protracted legal battle.

Gabyshev, 56, became famous for undertaking a pilgrimage to Moscow to “exorcize” Vladimir Putin in 2019. Recognized as a political prisoner by the Memorial human rights group and Amnesty International, Gabyshev spent most of the past five years in psychiatric hospitals. His supporters and rights advocates say he has been subjected to life-threatening treatments.

Meanwhile, authorities in Sakha are struggling to launch the heating season due to a lack of funding for utilities. Temperatures across the vast and scarcely populated republic have already plunged below freezing.

In the republic of Bashkortostan, security forces raided the homes of and detained four female activists and a journalist. Though the charges against them are still unknown, the women may have been targeted for their alleged links to controversial opposition figure Svetlana Lada-Rus, who is on Russia’s wanted list.

In the North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, three people were killed and several others injured in a cable car crash on Mount Elbrus. Law enforcement authorities have detained the CEO and head technician of a chairlift company connected to the incident. The cable car, which connects two points near the peak of Europe’s highest mountain, has been in operation since 1981.

In the northwestern Vologda region, eccentric Governor Georgy Filimonov is pressing ahead with an aggressive (and unpopular) anti-alcohol campaign. Nearly half of all liquor stores in the region have closed since the campaign began in March, while the remaining ones have been forced to invest in rebranding.

Though ostensibly aimed at improving public health and well-being, Vologda’s campaign has instead led to an increase in black-market alcohol sales, according to local reports. Yet a handful of other regions in Russia’s Far East, including Amur, Magadan and Sakha, are also toying with the idea of tightening measures against alcohol abuse.

The Spotlight

Annexed Crimea and ‘Unfriendly’ Shores: Where Russians Vacationed This Summer

With monsoons and colder temperatures arriving on the Black Sea coast this month, the peak tourism season is officially over, even in the warmest parts of Russia.

Tour operators are now reviewing the initial results of a summer tourism season that was wrecked by countrywide flight disruptions, internet shutdowns and the consequences of the massive oil spill in the Kerch Strait in December 2024.

Domestic shifts

Domestically, the overall number of vacation bookings made during the high season between May and September has dropped by 13% compared to last year, according to the Association of Tour Operators in Russia (ATOR).

“The decline in bookings…is linked to a whole set of interrelated factors. First, the rise in hotel and transportation prices within the country has slowed the growth of domestic tourism,” said Sergei Romashkin, the vice president of ATOR’s domestic tourism branch.

Romashkin noted that sales of tour packages reflect an overall shift in consumer spending in Russia, with many people opting to put more money into savings as the economy shows growing signs of a recession.