Mass protests in Moscow

OVD-Info, an independent monitoring group, said on Sunday that police had detained 1,001 people on Saturday, up from its earlier estimate of just over 800 people. Many but not all of those detained were later released by police, but OVD-Info said 19 were kept in custody overnight, Reuters said.

Activists say the Russian constitution allows them to freely protest. But authorities say they need to agree the timing and location in advance, something that was not done ahead of Saturday's protest.

The focus of protesters' anger is a prohibition on a number of opposition-minded candidates, some of whom are allies of anti-Kremlin opposition politician Alexei Navalny, from taking part in a September election for Moscow’s city legislature.