Russian authorities on Thursday stepped up the pressure on the country’s opposition by raiding the office of a protest leader and his team.

Alexei Navalny, who has been the driving force behind major anti-government protests in recent years, live streamed a video from his office as law enforcement officers cut through the front door with an electric saw on Thursday morning.

A video released by Mr Navalny’s YouTube channel showed several masked masked men gather the foundation’s employee in a room with a Christmas tree and a disco ball and tell them: “Put your face to the wall! Stay where you are!” The officers then disabled CCTV cameras.

The raid on Mr Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation in Moscow was one of several this year and came just a few days after one of his allies was detained and sent off for military service at a remote Arctic base.

Both incidents appear to be the latest steps in an unusually vigorous crackdown on opposition movements by the Kremlin.