The parliamentary election in Russia has seen Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia party lose a substantial level of support from around the country.

In the Sunday elections, the party had 49.54 per cent of the vote, after 96 per cent of ballots had been counted. This is a significant decline on the 64.3 per cent of support the party gained in the 2007 elections.

The result is likely to leave the United Russia party with 238 seats in the 450-seat parliament, according to reports from the Financial Times. They had previously held 315 seats.

However, the party is attempting to make light of the decline, noting that it still holds the majority. Speaking at a press conference, senior United Russia leader Andrei Vorobiev noted: "Bigger is not necessarily better."

However, Putin did not appear so optimistic and reports suggest that he appeared visibly upset and tense after seeing the decline in his party's support, although he did remark that the result will still "allow us to guarantee stability of the development of our state".

Putin's popularity has largely developed on the back of such stability as his leadership has delivered calmer years for the country. However, accusations of corruption are now becoming all too common and it is feared that his support is starting to trickle away.

With the presidential election in March, in which Putin is running, this could be a problem, although the signs suggest that he still has the majority backing.