What changes is Vladimir Putin proposing to Russia's constitution?

Russians will vote on July 1 on a series of constitutional reforms after President Vladimir Putin on Monday rescheduled a public vote delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Putin announced the amendments earlier this year and they were quickly approved by Russia's two houses of parliament.

An initial public vote was planned for April 22 but had to be postponed as Russia saw a surge of coronavirus infections.

Here is an overview of the changes being made to Russia's constitution, the first reforms to the country's basic law since 1993.

The potentially most important amendment resets Putin's constitutional term-limit clock to zero.

Putin first came to power as prime minister in 1999 under Boris Yeltsin before becoming president in 2000. He served the maximum two consecutive terms between 2000 and 2008 before a four-year stint as prime minister.

He returned to the Kremlin in 2012 for a newly expanded six-year mandate and was re-elected in 2018.

Other constitutional changes somewhat expand the role of parliament, but they also strengthen the already-powerful role of the president.

The president will have the right to dissolve parliament if it refuses to support the candidacy of a minister proposed by the head of state three times in a row.

The president will also have a greater say over the work of the Constitutional and Supreme Courts and prosecutors.

The reform also strengthens the role of the State Council, currently an advisory body.

In line with Putin's conservative views, the reforms enshrine a mention of Russians' "faith in God" despite Russia's long history as a secular country.

The reform also stipulates that marriage is a union between a man and woman, effectively banning gay marriages.

The new amendments also ban giving away Russian territory and outlaw any calls promoting such a move. Such an amendment would ensure that Russia keeps Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014, or the Kuril Islands -- disputed with Japan for decades.

The amendments also seek to protect the "historic truth" about the country's role in World War II and honour the memory of "the defenders of the fatherland".

The Russian leader has repeatedly railed against attempts to "rewrite" history and complained that the West does not fully appreciate the huge losses suffered by the Soviet Union during World War II.

The constitutional reform guarantees a minimum wage that should not be below the subsistence level and state pensions regularly adjusted to inflation.

The amendments spell out principles of "justice and solidarity between generations" to ensure the proper functioning of the pension system.

Observers say the Kremlin chief may have included the social guarantees into the country's basic law to boost support for the proposals among the public.