Riot police have seized Russia's most prominent opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, at a Moscow rally two days before Vladimir Putin's inauguration.

Axar.az reports quoting BBC.

He was carried away struggling through the crowd of demonstrators, who had gathered to protest at Mr Putin's forthcoming fourth term in office.

The rallies in Moscow and Russia's second city, St Petersburg, were not approved by the authorities.

At least 1,000 arrests were reportedly made at rallies across Russia.

Protesters on Moscow's Pushkin Square shouted slogans such as "Down with the tsar!" - "tsar" was the historical title of Russia's pre-revolutionary emperors - and "Russia without Putin!". In St Petersburg, Russia's second city, they shouted "Jail the tsar!".

Activists have been using a Russian hash tag on Twitter which translates as "He's not our tsar".

The pro-Kremlin National Liberation Movement held a rival rally at the same location in Moscow.