PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, January 21. /TASS/. Russia’s incumbent President Vladimir Putin is sure to sweep a convincing victory at the upcoming presidential elections in March, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with the Deistvuyushchiye Litsa (Political Actor) with Nailya Askar-zade program on the Rossiya-1 television channel.

"Despite the fact that after 18 years in power, Putin has decided to run for president, as a Russian citizen, I am convinced he will win," Peskov said.

According to the Kremlin spokesman, the situation around Crimea has helped consolidate "unprecedented overwhelming majority of the population" around the president. "I hope it will be another convincing victory," he stressed, adding that such popular support for the president is unprecedented in world politics.

Presidential elections

Presidential elections will be held in Russia on March 18, 2018. As of today, seventeen candidates have been were nominated to run for Russian president, including two self-nominees and 15 party candidates.

The two self-nominees are: President Vladimir Putin and member of the Kostroma Region Duma, or legislature, Vladimir Mikhailov. Those nominated by parties are: Vladimir Zhirinovsky (LDPR), Pavel Grudinin (CPRF), Elvira Agurbash (Green Alliance), Sergey Baburin (Russian People’s Union), Irina Volynets (People’s Party of Russia), Yekaterina Gordon (Party of Good Deeds), Stanislav Polishchuk (Party of Social Reforms), Ksenia Sobchak (Civil Initiative), Maxim Suraikin (Communists of Russia), Boris Titov (Party of Growth), Roman Khudyakov (Honest), Grigory Yavlinsky (Yabloko), Natalia Lisitsyna (Rot Front), Anton Bakov (Monarchical Party of Russia) and Mikhail Kozlov (Party of Social Protection).

Now, all of them, but for Zhirinovsky and Grudinin who were nominated by parliamentary parties and have already been registered as presidential candidates, have to collect signatures in their support to be registered by the Central Election Commission as candidates for president. Self-nominees have to collect at least 300,000 signatures. Candidates nominated by off-parliament parties have to collect 100,000 signatures. Signatures and registration documents are to be submitted to the Central Elections by January 31.