Police and hundreds of demonstrators squared up in central Moscow at an unauthorised march against police abuse in the wake of the high-profile detention of a Russian journalist.

Protesters gathered across Russia to support opposition leader Alexei Navalny's call to boycott the March presidential election, and Mr Navalny himself was arrested while walking to the Moscow demonstration.

Hundreds of people were arrested in the centre of Moscow today while trying to gather for an unauthorised demonstration called by an extreme nationalist group.

Scores of people have been arrested in the centre of Moscow while trying to gather for an unauthorised protest demonstration called for by an extreme nationalist group.