Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced his renewed candidacy in next year’s presidential election, as had been expected, Russian state media reported on Friday. Putin stated his intention to run for a fifth term in the March 17 polls at the request of military officials, according to the reports. He made the announcement at a ceremony in the Kremlin honouring Russian heroes. The 71-year-old head of state previously had the Russian constitution amended specifically so that he could run again. Earlier, the central election commission in Moscow had officially confirmed the date for the vo…