MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. A total of 177 people from the Russian Foreign Ministry will travel abroad to help organize the presidential election, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Gennady Askaldovich said.

"This year we have a record number of people dispatched from the Foreign Ministry. About 177 people will head abroad to provide assistance," Askaldovich said at a meeting at the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) focusing on preparations for the 2024 presidential election.

According to him, the vast majority of commissions abroad will be led by heads of Russian diplomatic missions and consular offices.

"The day after tomorrow we will receive the ballots from the CEC, and will begin sending them to foreign missions, except for those that will be produced for the missions on the site. This is a right allowed by law," the diplomat said.

In addition, Askaldovich stressed that training seminars in the format of online conferences will be held for election commissions abroad. "You know that the commission does not have a permanent lineup, so new people come and it is necessary to keep training them, inform them about the changes in electoral legislation, the specifics of the electoral process and so on," he added.

The Federation Council (upper house of parliament) formally designated March 17, 2024, as the date of Russia’s presidential election. The Central Election Commission decided that the vote would take place over three days, on March 15-17, 2024, making it the first-ever three-day presidential election in Russian history.