Putin says succession is always on his mind
Vladimir Putin has said that is always thinking about the succession, and suggested that there could be an contest between several candidates.

Putin served as president from 1999 to 2008, then as prime minister until 2012, and then again as president from 2012 to the present.

He is the longest serving Kremlin chief since Josef Stalin.

"I always think about it," Putin said when asked if he thought about the succession in a film by Russia's state television about Putin's quarter of a century as Russia's leader entitled Russia, Kremlin, Putin, 25 years.

"Ultimately, the choice is for the people, for the Russian people.

"I think that there should be a person, or rather several people, so that the people have a choice."

There is no clear successor to Putin though under the Russian constitution, if the president was unable to fulfil his duties, then the prime minister - currently Mikhail Mishustin - would assume presidential powers.