Russian President Vladimir Putin met with volunteers from his election campaign during his visit to his campaign headquarters at the Gostiny Dvor building in the Russian capital, Moscow.

This marked his first event as a candidate for the presidency in the upcoming elections.

Russian media reported that the campaign headquarters had previously received endorsements from 58 regions. The presidential elections in Russia are scheduled to take place on March 15, 16, and 17. 

The Russian electoral laws stipulate that a candidate must collect signatures from 300,000 citizens to qualify for the elections. The Putin campaign has gathered more than 2.5 million signatures so far.

The spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed that the level of support from Russian citizens for President Vladimir Putin this year has reached its highest levels.

An opinion poll conducted by the Public Opinion research foundation showed that Russian President Vladimir Putin enjoys the trust of 79 percent of Russians.