Mr. Veshnyakov, who is visiting the city of Kazan, said he did not “see all of it on TV”, and he was not yet ready to comment on the coverage. However, he did not rule out that some media sources had gone too far, and the Central Election Commission would consider the issue, Mr. Veshnyakov stressed.

Apparently, he referred to Mr. Putin’s meeting with his supporters on Thursday, which was broadcast in a news bulletin on the Rossiya (Russia) television. According to the TV channel, this coverage was not paid for from the election fund, because Mr. Putin’s statement was broadcast as part of a news bulletin, and not as part of the election campaign. But several of Mr. Putin’s challengers in the presidential elections said they would complain that the incumbent President broke the rules of electioneering.

The coverage of Mr. Putin’s meeting with his supporters lasted 32 minutes, of which 29 minutes was the broadcast of his statement. The President said he was delivering a report and announcing his plans for the future. In other words, he was acting as a candidate for re-election, which was made clear in other news bulletins on the state-run Rossiya channel.

According to the official price list of the All-Russian State TV and Radio Company (VGTRK), 30 seconds of airtime on the Rossiya television cost from RUR 90,000 (about $3,155) to RUR 166,000 ($5,855) for election candidates. So, the coverage of Mr. Putin’s statement would cost him RUR 5.2m ($182,328) to RUR 9.6m ($366,605).

However, the Rossiya channel says Mr. Putin’s statement was not part of his election campaign. Viktoriya Arutyunova, spokeswoman for VTRRK, says that the Rossiya channel is a state-run TV channel, and as such it has to cover the activities of Vladimir Putin as long as he remains the President of Russia. “He met with his supporters as the Russian President,” she said.