ROZHDESTVENO /Moscow Region/, December 23. /TASS/. The Russian Communist Party’s congress has nominated lawmaker Nikolay Kharitonov as its candidate in the upcoming presidential election, a TASS correspondent reported.

The decision was made by secret ballot. Kharitonov was the only candidate on the ballot. The plenum of the party’s Central Committee supported the move to nominate Kharitonov.

"I would like to point out that this is a landmark congress. First, this is the first time we are holding a congress in the midst of a big war that NATO allies and the Americans have declared against our state. Second, our presidential election will for the first time take place in wartime," Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov told reporters.

Kharitonov was the party’s candidate in the 2004 presidential election and came second, garnering 13.69% of the vote. Other presidential candidates from the Communist Party included Zyuganov, who ran for president in 1996, 2000, 2008 and 2012, and Pavel Grudinin (2018).

The Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, formally designated March 17, 2024 as the date of the presidential election. In turn, the Russian Central Election Commission decided that citizens would be able to cast their ballots during a three-day voting period on March 15-17, making this Russia’s first three-day presidential election.