A Russian woman who says she is committed to peace on Wednesday declared her candidacy for the presidency, to which President Vladimir Putin is expected to be comfortably reelected next March.

The electoral commission confirmed that Ekaterina Duntsova had filed the required documents.

Now, she and other candidates have to gather thousands of signatures from supporters to secure a place on the ballot.

Duntsova, 40, said she had one chance in two in the race, hours after the electoral commission said it had registered 16 contenders.

But to most observers, the re-election of Putin seems a foregone conclusion.

He confirmed this month during a meeting with military veterans that he would join the election scheduled to be held over three days beginning 15 March.

Duntsova, a former journalist and city councilor, will run as an independent "for peace and democratic processes."

After she announced her candidacy, prosecutors summoned her but the Central Elections Commission confirmed her papers were in order.

Asked about her security fears on Wednesday, she said she had "worries" but that what she was doing was "legal."

Earlier Wednesday, the CEC had said 16 people had filed to run for the presidency, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported.                                

The CEC said it would also hold the ballot in four Ukrainian regions partially occupied by Russian forces and in the Crimean peninsula, annexed from Kyiv in 2014.