Thousands of protesters demanding the release of jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny have been detained at rallies across Russia.
In defiance of warnings demonstrations were unauthorised and would be broken up, tens of thousands took to the streets in support of the fierce critic of Vladimir Putin for the second week in a row.
More than 4,000 people have been detained at rallies held in different corners of Russia on Sunday, including Moscow, St Petersburg and Siberian cities, according to a protest monitoring group.
Yulia Navalnaya, Mr Navalny’s wife, counted among those detained at a rally in the capital, where police sealed off pedestrian access in areas and shut down metro stations.
The opposition leader was arrested earlier this month after returning to Russia, having spent months in Germany recovering from a poisoning.
Mr Navalny is accused of parole violations which he has claimed are trumped up. A court is due to meet next week to consider handing him a jail term of up to three and a half years.
The US has urged Russia to release Mr Navalny and criticised the crackdown on “peaceful protesters and journalists”.
