Germany points to reports on "massive irregularities" in Russia's Duma elections

FILE PHOTO: Members of a local election commission empty a ballot box after polls closed during a three-day long parliamentary election, at a polling station inside Kazansky railway terminal in Moscow, Russia September 19, 2021. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

BERLIN (Reuters) - There are credible reports of massive irregularities in the Russian Duma elections, a German government spokesman said on Monday, as the vote's results were finalised.

Russia's ruling United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin, retained its parliamentary majority after an election and a sweeping crackdown on its critics, but opponents alleged widespread fraud.