Russian opposition leader arrested heading to Moscow protest

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was arrested Sunday, according to multiple reports.

Navalny — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critic — was arrested when he was on his way to a protest in Moscow.

Navalny organized the protests as part of an effort to encourage Russians to boycott the country’s presidential election in March.

{mosads}Russia’s Central Election Commission last year voted to stop Navalny from running against Putin, citing a conviction in a fraud case that many consider to be political pushback.

According to The Associated Press, about 1,000 people gathered Sunday in central Moscow’s Pushkin Square for a demonstration.

They held signs that read: “They’ve stolen the election from us” and “Elections without Navalny are fake.”