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.

Russia unexpectedly freed opposition leader Alexei Navalny on bail yesterday, bending to the will of thousands of protesters who denounced his five-year jail sentence as a crude attempt by president Vladimir Putin to silence him.

One man was killed when Russian soccer fans went on a rampage in Moscow after watching their national team lose to Japan today.