MOSCOW, December 8. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively launched his re-election campaign, but he still needs to complete some necessary formalities, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"If you want to say de facto, probably yes," the spokesman said, when asked whether this Friday could be called the beginning of Putin's re-election campaign. "If you want to say de jure, no."

"He is not yet an official candidate. We will let you know when he will become a candidate. He needs to register as a candidate, complete all the necessary formalities, and it’s not until after that moment that he will be a presidential candidate in this election campaign," Peskov said.

Earlier on Friday, Putin announced that he would run for president in the 2024 election. The Russian president was asked to seek re-election by participants in a Heroes of the Fatherland Day ceremony, and responded that after a long period of deliberation, he concluded that "one now can’t do otherwise" and he will run.

The ceremony participants that spoke with Putin included Artyom Zhoga, the speaker of the Donetsk People’s Republic legislature and the father of Hero of Russia Vladimir Zhoga, who died in Volnovakha in 2022; Sapizhat Mazayeva, the mother of the special military operation fighter, Hero of Russia Nurmagomed Gadzhimagomedov; Mariana Lysenko, chief physician of Moscow Hospital No. 52; Eduard Shcherbina, an Honorable Coalminer of the Russian Federation; Hero of Russia Sergeant Yury Mizerny; Maria Kostyuk, an employee of the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation and the mother of a fallen hero of the special military operation, and some others.

The presidential election will be held over three days from March 15-17, 2024. Putin, who is serving his second consecutive term, and fourth overall, is eligible to run again.