France, Sept. 18 -- Russia has barely appeared to be in election mode, with minimal coverage on state-controlled television.

The low-key campaign is deliberate, political analysts told RFI.

"The Kremlin has carried out a sort of special operation around this election campaign, instructing the media under its control to drastically reduce their coverage of the elections," Alexander Morozov, a Russian political scientist and researcher at the New Eurasian Strategies Centre, told RFI.

Kremlin critic leaves Moscow for Paris after ban from running for election A subdued campaign

The aim is to avoid adding to uncertainty among Russians after years of conflict, Morozov argued.

"The war has been going on for a long time and the population fe...