Thousands held in Russia amid rallies for Navalny

More than 4,100 people have been detained so far across Russia over the unsanctioned protests, including 1,080 in Moscow and 796 in St. Petersburg, reported Cable News Network (CNN), quoting OVD-Info, an independent site that monitors arrests.

Meanwhile, the wife of opposition leader Alexey Navalny has been released after her detention Sunday in Moscow, as protesters across the country rallied in her husband's name, said the CNN report.

The Russia opposition leader's team announced the end of protests in Moscow on Sunday afternoon, but said that the "next stop" for demonstrations would be on Tuesday at Simonovsky court.

"Today's protest is over, but we continue to fight for Alexey Navalny's freedom," the team posted on their Telegram channel at 6:20 p.m. local time.

On Tuesday, a Moscow court will consider Navalny's case on fraud charges and will establish whether his suspended sentence should be replaced with a real jail term.

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.