Vladimir Putin has confirmed he will run for president again next year, despite months of rumours about his health.

The 71-year-old told soldiers fighting in the Ukraine war that he was to stand again in the 2024 election.

It opens up the path to Putin remaining in power until at least 2030.

The President was awarded Ukraine war veterans with Russia's highest military honour, the Hero of Russia gold star, when a lieutenant colonel asked the president to run again.

"I will not hide that I have had different thoughts at different times but it is now time to make a decision," Putin told Zhoga and the other decorated soldiers.

"I will run for the post of president," Putin was shown in television footage saying in the gilded Georgievsky Hall, part of the Grand Kremlin Palace.

His confirmation, which had been expected, comes amid months of rumours about the former KGB man's health.

Earlier this year leaked documents from Ukraine included unsubstantiated intelligence that the Russian leader was undergoing chemotherapy.