MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. Voter turnout in the Russian presidential election as of 10.00 a.m. Moscow Time on Sunday reached 16.55%, Central Election Commission’s chief Ella Pamfilova said.

"As of 10.00 a.m. the voter turnout is 16.55%," Pamfilova said.

Russia holds the presidential election on Sunday. Eight candidates are running for the highest office in the Russian Federation. Among them are: incumbent President Vladimir Putin; Pavel Grudinin, director of the Lenin State Farm (nominated by the Communist Party of Russia); TV personality and socialite Ksenia Sobchak (nominated by Civil Initiative); Sergey Baburin, head of the Russian People’s Union party; Maxim Suraikin, chairman of the Central Committee of the Communists of Russia party; Boris Titov, chairman of the Party of Growth and Russian Presidential Envoy for Entrepreneurs’ Rights; Grigory Yavlinsky, head of the Yabloko Party’s federal political committee; Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR).