Alexei Navalny posted a picture of himself in a van with police after he was detained - Alexei Navalny/Instagram

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been charged with an administrative offence that could put him in jail when Vladimir Putin stands for re-election on March 18. Russia opposition leader Alexei Navalny says he could defeat Putin in a fair election Russia opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s calls to boycott election may be illegal: Kremlin Navalny is barred from running in the election because of a criminal conviction that he and most rights advocates say was fabricated. Navalny said on Twitter that he had been detained by seven police officers as he left a dental clinic and that he had been released after being informed of the proceedings against him. Hours later, Volkov tweeted that he had been sentenced by a court to 30 days in jail, meaning he will not be released until after the March 18 election, which Navalny is calling on Russians to boycott. Navalny wrote on Twitter earlier in the day that Volkov, who headed the presidential campaign Navalny conducted before being barred from the ballot, was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport.
Russian police detained the political activist Alexei Navalny and his chief of staff Leonid Volkov, who will be taken to court for having organized an unauthorized protest on January 28. Navalny claims that the authorities want him in jail when the upcoming presidential election occurs on March 18.