Russian officials have revealed the stamps containing Olympic mascots the Polar Bear, the Hare and the Leopard, and the Paralympic Games mascots, the Ray of Light and the Snowflake, are now available from post offices throughout Russia, with just over two months to go until the Games commence.

There are 680,000 stamps priced at 20 rubles (£0.37/$0.60/€0.45) each in circulation or alternatively a sheet of eight stamps is also available.

The special issue has an artistic folder, and inside are four first day cover postage stamps and envelopes.

The mascots appear on the stamp sheets with illustrations depicting winter landscapes in the background.

The Sochi 2014 mascots were chosen via a live television voting event which organisers claim saw more than 1.4 million taking part in February 2011.

More than 10 million stamps were released following the final vote and organisers say that a total of six sheets and 50 different stamps will have been released by the start of the Games in February.

The latest collection of stamps released by Sochi 2014 feature the Games' mascots in a winter landscape background ©Sochi 2014