Hundreds of people including prominent opposition figure Alexei Navalny have been detained by police on a day of unsanctioned anti-Kremlin protests across Russia.

Navalny’s wife Yulia wrote on his Twitter feed that he had been arrested outside his house as he set off for a protest in Moscow that he had called in order to demonstrate the growing momentum behind his movement. Police later confirmed the arrest, saying he could get up to 15 days in jail on charges of failing to follow police orders and violating public order. Witnesses said more than 100 people were held at the Moscow demonstration and that police had used pepper spray. Reporters counted more than 200 detentions in St Petersburg, including that of Maxim Reznik, the city’s legislative assembly deputy. There were reports of further detentions in a number of Siberian cities.

Navlanly, a lawyer turned anti-corruption campaigner who wants to challenge Vladimir Putin for the presidency next year, is popular among a minority of the population, and his support is growing. A protest in March against alleged corruption linked to the prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, drew an estimated 60,000 people to the streets in cities across Russia.  Navalny switched the location of Monday’s protest at the last minute to central Tverskaya Street, already closed off by authorities for military reenactments to mark Russia Day.(the guardian)…[+]