MOSCOW — Russia’s economy is on track for a full year of growth. Inflation is slowing. The central bank has been replenishing its reserves of hard currency.

The country is finally emerging from a difficult recession, and the timing could not be better: President Vladimir V. Putin is running for re-election soon.

Mr. Putin is widely expected to triumph in the March polls — there is no credible opposition, and he has levers of the state, from fiscal largess to official media outlets, at his disposal.

The Russian election offers Mr. Putin a chance to cement his grip on power, even as his country remains under pressure from sanctions related to another election — the 2016 presidential vote in the United States. American intelligence agencies say Russia interfered with a campaign of computer hacking and posts from fake social networking accounts.