United Russia held the All‑Russian Forum of Municipal Deputies.

      Development of the municipal link and tasks for 2026: "United Russia" held the All-Russian Forum of Municipal Deputies.

      According to the press service of the NRO of "United Russia", more than 200 delegates from across the country gathered in Moscow at the final event of the Year of Municipal Deputies.

      "United Russia is the absolute leader among Russian parties in terms of representation at the municipal level. Their total number exceeds 130,000 people — that is 84% of all local deputies," emphasized the party Chairman Dmitry Medvedev at the forum's plenary session.

      "Being a municipal deputy is not a privilege but a special responsibility and a rather difficult challenge that each deputy accepts. The people you work with, our citizens, address all issues directly to you. This is a very demanding job. You provide the most effective oversight on a wide range of topics, and, on the other hand, direct contact with voters. This creates a special value in your work and makes our party, United Russia, truly a people's party. I want to sincerely thank you again for the work you do," Dmitry Medvedev said.

      The party leader set tasks for the corps of municipal deputies from United Russia for 2026. One of the most important, he said, is supporting participants in the special military operation and their families.

      "Many of you, I know this not by hearsay, are constantly engaged in this topic, collecting humanitarian aid, sending it to the front line, helping the relatives of those taking part in the special military operation. This work is also very, very difficult and must continue until the goals set by the president and our country are achieved," he stressed.

      It is equally important to support veterans who have become deputies as a result of elections. This year 890 participants became deputies — three times more than last year. The overwhelming majority of them work at the municipal level.

      It is necessary to support municipal deputies of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, and of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions so that they can be fully integrated into the modern Russian system of government.

      Dmitry Medvedev emphasized that municipal deputies play a special role in the reporting on United Russia's people's program and in collecting proposals for a new program. Relying on this document, one can convincingly demonstrate and prove the work done to any audience, including opposition parties, he noted.

      "You know that in recent years we always go to elections with a people's program. It needs to be prepared now. On the other hand, we will need to tell our people, our voters, how the current people's program, which was adopted in 2021, has been implemented. We have something to show. The vast majority of the promises and commitments that the party made at the federal, regional and even municipal levels have been fulfilled. Therefore, every time we talk about any new projects, I ask you not to tire of reminding our people, our voters, that this is the result of the work of a large number of people — municipal deputies and the United Russia party. This will ensure our victory in the elections. And I hope no one doubts that," he explained.

      Ahead of the large-scale 2026 election campaign, all links of the party infrastructure need to be rebooted, emphasized the Secretary of United Russia's General Council, Vladimir Yakushev.

      "The main task of 2024 was to bring the work with our primary branches to the forefront, to show that the primary branch is the most important thing for the party today. A request came from the primary branches to link up with municipal deputies. They are nearby and live by the same agenda as our primary branches. And, of course, after 2025 we will not finish work on municipal deputies. We need to build our entire intra-party work with the municipal tier," he stressed.

      Participants of the forum presented a number of initiatives to Dmitry Medvedev.

      In particular, the Chairman of United Russia supported the creation in the regions of coordination groups of deputies to facilitate interaction between municipal deputies and regional and federal parliamentarians. This proposal was made by the head of the United Russia faction in the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma, Evgeny Kostin. In addition, the Nizhny Novgorod deputy put forward several other proposals.

      "At the forum I shared initiatives that I believe are important to implement. First of all — holding regular meetings of regional agencies with municipal deputies from relevant committees. This format helps to better understand current programs and projects and to keep a finger on the pulse of the agenda. In addition, I presented initiatives that are already being actively implemented in the Nizhny Novgorod region under the supervision of Governor Gleb Nikitin. These are annual reports by deputies — both electronically on the representative body's website and in-person during meetings with residents and primary party branches. This is one of the most effective ways of direct communication, when people get answers to their questions and see real results," Evgeny Kostin shared.

      The deputy also spoke about participatory budgeting. He proposed to enshrine the possibility for deputies themselves to propose such projects and to strengthen deputy oversight at all stages. As an effective example, Evgeny Kostin cited the regional project "You Decide!", which actively helps territories and has become an important tool in the work.

      Among the proposals of municipal deputies approved by Dmitry Medvedev were: the creation of a digital platform for municipal deputies to exchange experience. In addition, he instructed that the holding of the "People's Deputy" contest annually be worked out.

      Another proposal is the creation of a separate educational module for municipal deputies.

      At the conclusion of the plenary session Dmitry Medvedev presented the Order of Courage to Habib Hamutaev, a deputy of the Assembly of Deputies of the urban district "city of Makhachkala" of the Republic of Dagestan.

      "There are examples of exceptional courage and special devotion to the country and to loved ones that our comrades, the Heroes of the special military operation, demonstrate today. Ultimately, besides being a deed for which, of course, everyone must bow to the Heroes, this binds our country together. You know, I recall events 30 years ago, 25 years ago, when everything was falling apart, the country was coming undone, slipping through our fingers. Endless conflicts, problems. A bond or a common idea was needed to bring us back to the state of a single people living in a vast but united country. What is it? It is love of the Motherland. It is on these values that our party's program, United Russia's program, is based," the party Chairman concluded.

      Recall that 2025 was declared the Year of the Municipal Deputy in United Russia. The party held thematic forums across the country dedicated to the work of this link, best practices for interacting with voters, solving their problems and exchanging experience.

      At the preparatory stage, regional forums of municipal deputies took place across the country. They discussed issues of interaction between deputies and the party's primary tier with residents, the implementation of the people's program and the party's humanitarian mission to support fighters of the special military operation, their families and the reunited regions. Participants touched on topics of preliminary voting and elections, summed up interim results of the current year and outlined plans for 2026 and the election campaign for deputies of the State Duma.

      Photo provided by the press service of the NRO of "United Russia".

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