Protesters are being detained in Russia's St. Petersburg.

The protests have been held in support of the arrested opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Nearly 5 thousand people are taking part in the protests.

Law enforcement officers grab people from the crowd and take them to police vans. 

Protesters keep shouting that Russian president Vladimir Putin is a thief.

They throw snowballs at the police.

Unauthorized rallies in support of the oppositionist are taking place take across all the country.