The Unseen Assembly: Russia’s Final Blackout on Parliamentary Transparency

The move followed a series of public grievances from deputies who were reportedly incensed by candid photographs captured during the opening of the spring session. Lawmakers complained that long-focus lenses were being used to "spy and peek" rather than to document the substantive work of the chamber. The "unflattering" images in question often featured deputies yawning, browsing their smartphones, or appearing to doze off during critical debates—human moments that the ruling United Russia party argued were being weaponized by the media to mock the state. This shift prioritizes the carefully curated vanity of the political elite over the democratic right of the citizenry to observe their representatives in an unfiltered environment.