MOSCOW, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Russian presidential campaign has been officially launched, according to a resolution published on the government's newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta on Monday.

The resolution issued by the Russian Federation Council, or the upper house of parliament, officially gives a start to the election campaign.

The Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) will approve the plan of the upcoming election campaign on Monday. A total of 23 candidates have declared their intentions to run for the president, including Vladimir Putin, said the CEC chairperson Ella Pamfilova.

To be registered as an independent presidential candidate in Russia, a candidate has to collect at least 300,000 voters' signatures on his or her behalf by Feb. 1.

If a candidate wishes to run within the framework of a political party, this party will have to collect no less than 100,000 signatures on the candidate's behalf.

The Russian Federation Council on Friday officially set the country's presidential election date for March 18, 2018.