Russian opposition leader detained by police at Moscow protest rally

Navalny announced on Twitter that he had been detained by police

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has said was detained by police soon after joining a rally in Moscow today. 

The anti-corruption activist joined hundreds of his supporters on a nationwide day of protest today, calling on voters to boycott what they claim would be a rigged presidential election on 18 March. 

Earlier, police raided Mr Navalny's Moscow headquarters forcing their way into his office using power tools, citing reports of a bomb threat, an online feed run by Mr Navalny's supporters showed.

Mr Navalny has been barred from running in the 18 March election which polls show incumbent president Vladimir Putin is on track to easily win.

Though Mr Navalny has said he knows Mr Putin will be re-elected, his spoiler campaign is aimed at lowering voter turnout to try to take the shine off a Putin win.

Six of Mr Navalny's allies were detained during the police raid, OVD-Info, an independent monitoring group, said.

It said they were among more than 60 people detained across Russia by 1pm Moscow time.

Police shut down a TV studio at Mr Navalny's office during the same raid which had been broadcasting online news bulletins, but another studio in a different location continued to operate.

In the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, just under 1,500km east of Moscow, around 1,000 protesters gathered in temperatures of nearly -10C to back Mr Navalny's boycott call.

"No election? No to elections," a placard being held by one young man read. Other protesters waved Russian flags or red and white placards calling for a boycott.

Mr Navalny's supporters said they expected thousands of people to take part in similar demonstrations in 118 towns and cities.

"Your own life is at stake," Mr Navalny said in a pre-protest video. "How many more years to do you want to live with these thieves, bigots and creeps?"

It was unclear where Mr Navalny was, but a group of police officers was stationed near his home.

Mr Navalny said he planned to attend the Moscow protest later today.

Police warned beforehand they would harshly suppress any illegal protest activity and authorities refused to authorise events in Moscow and St Petersburg, the country's two biggest cities, raising the possibility of clashes.

It is understood there is a heavy police presence in central Moscow ahead of the protest, with a command centre and buses filled with policemen parked on side streets.

Mr Navalny, a lawyer who has campaigned against official corruption, was barred from running for the presidency by the central election commission in December over what he said was a trumped-up suspended prison sentence.

The United States and the EU criticised the decision.

Mr Putin, who has dominated the Russian political landscape for nearly two decades, described US criticism of the election commission's decision as crude interference in Russia's internal affairs and suggested Mr Navalny was Washington's pick for the presidency.                                                                  RT