Opposition leader Alexei Navalny and hundreds of protesters have been arrested at rallies across Russia calling for a boycott of the presidential election in March.

Mr Navalny called the rallies after he was barred from running against Vladimir Putin due to an embezzlement conviction that the European Court of Human Rights ruled was unfair.

Police arrested Mr Navalny soon after he arrived at the rally in the capital on Sunday afternoon. As he walked down Tverskaya Street toward the Kremlin, officers grabbed him and threw him to the ground, then dragged him into a waiting police van.

He has been charged with violating demonstration rules and could face another month-long jail term.

In power since 2000, Mr Putin enjoys high approval ratings and is expected to easily win another six-year term against several hopeless candidates offering only a weak challenge.

But surveys predicting a record low turnout have worried the Kremlin. Authorities refused to approve the demonstrations in Moscow and St Petersburg.

Mr Navalny told The Telegraph in an interview this month that the boycott would “strike an additional blow to the legitimacy of the regime and Putin”.