Incumbent Russian leader Vladimir Putin is set to secure a resounding victory in the Russian presidential election, according to partial results made public by the electoral commission.

With 21 percent of the votes counted, mostly in eastern part of the country, Vladimir Putin leads with almost 72 percent of the vote, well ahead of the simple majority needed to avoid a run-off.

First-time Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin is running second with 15 percent, while veteran nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who first ran against Boris Yeltsin in 1991, rounds out the top three.