Russians begin voting for presidential election

Russian citizens living in the country's easternmost regions of Kamchatka and Chukotka, Russia's Far East, began casting ballots to vote for the next president at 8:00 a.m. local time on Sunday.

There are more than 97,000 domestic polling stations, and more than 400 overseas stations.

The candidates running for the election are incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin, who participates as an independent candidate, Vladimir Zhirinovsky from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), and businessman Pavel Grudinin nominated by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF). Other candidates include Grigory Yavlinsky from Yabloko party, leader of the Party of Growth Boris Titov, head of the Russian All-People Union Sergey Baburin, TV host Ksenia Sobchak and head of the Communists of Russia Maxim Suraikin.

Under the constitution of the Russian Federation, the president shall be elected for a six-year term directly by eligible citizens. Any Russian citizen aged 35 years old and above, who has resided in Russia for no less than 10 years and does not hold citizenship or right of residence in another country, can be elected president.