Groups linked to the jailed Russian critic are declared extremists and barred from taking part in any elections.

The group revoked his status on Feb 24 but now says the decision was used to further violate Navalny's rights.

His spokeswoman was jailed for 10 days and another close ally detained.

Yulia Navalnaya described his condition after speaking to him by phone through a glass window.

It says Alexei Navalny is being subjected to sleep deprivation and does not have access to a doctor he could trust in jail.

The Moscow court handed Navalny a three-and-a-half-year sentence.

People braved the bitter cold to protest across the nation in support of the Kremlin critic.

Protesters defied ban and temperatures below -50 Celsius (-58 Fahrenheit) to turn out in force.

Navalny, 44, is best known in Russia for producing detailed investigations into corruption.

His plane was diverted from Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, where thousands of supporters were waiting.

The Kremlin critic is arrested by the police upon his arrival in Moscow on Sunday, on a flight from Germany.

Navalny has been undergoing treatment in Germany after he was poisoned last year.

The Russian prison service issues this order to Alexei Navalny, who is one of President Vladimir Putin’s leading critics.

He was allegedly told that poison had been placed in his underpants.

INTERVIEW | 'I thought I was right when I assumed it was Putin’s order. The way he denies it all, he makes himself a laughing stock.'

A casually-dressed and tired-looking Navalny posted a picture of himself on a park bench on Instagram.

He was allegedly poisoned there and not at the airport as first thought.

Russia has yet to open a criminal investigation and said there is no evidence yet of a crime.

The Soviet-style Novichok was used in an attempt to murder Alexei Navalny, adds German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

He was poisoned by a chemical from the group of active substances called cholinesterase inhibitors.

The opposition leader is in serious condition after drinking tea that his allies believe was laced with poison.

He was twice assaulted in 2017 by assailants who threw a green antiseptic dye at him.

Navalny began feeling ill on a plane to Moscow after drinking tea at an airport cafe in the Siberian city of Tomsk.

A tactical voting strategy pushed by opponents of the Putin-backing party may have worked, RIA news agency reports.

Among those arrested in protest to demand free elections is prominent activist Lyubov Sobol.

He was hospitalised on Sunday after suffering an acute allergic reaction.