Alexei Navalny

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, left, hugs his brother Oleg Navalny, center, after Oleg was released for the prison as Oleg Navalny's wife Viktoria smiles in Naryshkino, Orel region, 380 kilometers (237 miles) south of Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 29, 2018. AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov

Vladimir Putin will on May 7 be inaugurated for his fourth Kremlin term under the shadow of hugely strained ties with the West and a crackdown on the opposition, with Alexei Navalny and hundreds more detained at the weekend.

NBC News (MOSCOW) — Riot police moved in at a rally in Moscow Saturday afternoon as thousands of people took to the streets to voice their discontent with the government of Vladimir Putin, just days before his inauguration for a fourth presidential term.

RT: As two Russian politicians discussed the future after the presidential election, their discussion quickly turned into a confrontation, with both sides accusing each other of lies, hypocrisy and betrayal of the liberal cause.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was detained by police on Thursday but then released a short while later, weeks ahead of a presidential election in which he has been barred from running, writes Reuters.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been released after he was arrested Sunday during anti-Kremlin protests in Moscow, according to his official Twitter account.

Russian police arrived at the Moscow headquarters of opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Sunday morning and started to try to force their way in by using an angle grinder, Kira Yarmysh, a spokeswoman for Navalny said, Reuters reported. 

Russia's Supreme Court rejected the appeal of opposition Alexei Navalny, who is trying to change the controversial decision not to be allowed to compete with Vladimir Putin in the presidential election, RIA Novosti reported.

Russia's Supreme Court rejected on 30 December the appeal of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny against the decision of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) not to allow him to participate in the presidential election in March 2018, Reuters reported.

Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called US Department of State's reaction on the Russian Central Election Commission's decision not to accept documents of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who wanted to run for president, an interference in the Russian presidential election.