3000 detained at Navalny protests in Russia

Russian police arrested more than 3,000 people in a crackdown on protests in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, reported British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), quoting monitors.

Tens of thousands of people defied a heavy police presence to join some of the largest rallies against Russian President Vladimir Putin in years, said the BBC report.

In the capital, police were seen beating and dragging away protesters.

Putin´s critic Navalny was arrested in Moscow on 17 January upon his arrival from Germany after medical treatment.

Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service said its officers detained Navalny at the Sheremetyevo International Airport for his "systematic violations of the conditions of the probationary period."

The opposition figure on probation was put on a wanted list on Dec. 29, 2020 and he will remain in detention until a court ruling, the service said.

Navalny has been discharged from the Charité Hospital in Berlin in late September, 2020 where he was being treated for Novichok nerve agent poisoning.

He was taken there from Siberia for treatment on August 23.

Traces of the nerve agent allegedly used to poison Russian politician Alexei Navalny were found on a bottle in the hotel room where he stayed before falling ill.

Navalny collapsed on a flight in Siberia in August. Germany says he was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent.

He believes Putin was responsible for his poisoning.