MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/. Russia is in an all-out war with the main intelligence department of the Ukrainian defense ministry, trying to keep it from destroying the infrastructure created for the presidential election in Russia, Rostelecom chief executive Mikhail Oseevsky said.

"The election atmosphere is a tough one. I will call things as they are - we are in a state of war with the main intelligence department of Ukraine, which for a number of years already has been trying to ruin the entire infrastructure created for elections," the chief executive of the Russian telecom operator said.

The company is doing all it can to deal with this problem - more than 2,000 employees of Rostelecom and other organizations are working day and night to to this end, Oseevsky noted.

The Russian Federation Council, or upper house of parliament, officially designated March 17, 2024 as the day of the presidential election. The Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) then announced that voting will take place over three days on March 15-17. Four candidates will vie for the top office, namely New People party nominee Vladislav Davankov; self-nominated candidate and incumbent President Vladimir Putin; Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) nominee Leonid Slutsky; and Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) nominee Nikolay Kharitonov.