Sixteen candidates registered to run for 2024 presidential election in Russia

Sixteen candidates have submitted their applications to the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation to run for the post of President of Russia, commission chair Ella Pamfilova said.

For the first time in Russian history, the presidential election in 2024 will be held for three days, from March 15 to 17. The Central Election Commission allowed voting in Russia's new regions that live under the conditions of martial law.

This is the first time when the voting will be held "in such a toxic geopolitical situation," Pamfilova said.

Parliamentary parties have not decided yet which candidates are going to run in the presidential election. The Moscow branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation recommended nominating party chairman Gennady Zyuganov and 70-year-old State Duma deputy Sergei Levchenko (Zyuganov has repeatedly taken part in the presidential race).

State Duma deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Nikolai Kharitonov and New People Party leader Alexei Nechaev may become Putin's rivals in the election, The Vedomosti newspaper said.

The LDPR nominated the head of the party Leonid Slutsky as their presidential candidate. The head of the LDPR has not announced plans to run before. It is worthy of note that Slutsky was accused of sexual harassment of female journalists in 2018, but did not incur any punishment for those acts.

On December 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted documents to the Central Election Commission to take part in the elections. According to a survey conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation, 70 percent of Russians support Putin as a candidate. Another 15 percent of respondents believe that Putin should leave his post and take another position in the country's leadership.

Vladimir Putin was elected President of Russia four times — first in 2000, then in 2004, 2012 and 2018. After the adoption of amendments to the Constitution, he was given the right to stand as a candidate in new presidential elections in 2024.