Hundreds of people have been detained in Russia, including Putin critic Alexei Navalny, as unsanctioned anti-Kremlin protests were widespread.

As the Guardian reports, Yulia Navalny – his wife – broke the news on Twitter that he had been arrested outside his house, while intending to go to a Moscow protest. He had called on activists to gather and show the force behind his anti-Putin movement. Authorities say he could be imprisoned for up to 15 days for failing to follow police orders and violating public order.

OVD-Info, a local NGO, told Russian press that they believe more than 400 people have been detained in Moscow, with 300 detained at St Petersburg’s rally, according to Fontanka.ru.

Dozhd, a liberal Russian TV channel, showed protesters shouting ‘shame’ at St Petersburg police as they took people in. The channel confirmed demonstrations in Vladivostok, Blagoveshchensk and Kazan.

Navalny is a lawyer and anti-corruption campaigner, and plans to challenge Putin for the presidency in 2018. Putin is expected to run and win another six-year term. Navalny has been working across Russia to gather support and volunteers to help his campaign. He has continued to campaign despite receiving a suspended sentence for embezzlement in February – convicted people cannot run for office in Russia. However, Navalny claims the sentence was brought on him for shady political reasons. In April, he was left temporarily blinded after green liquid was thrown in his face in Moscow, though the perpetrators weren’t found. 

Local police used pepper spray and large amounts of force to break up demonstrations in Moscow. In St Petersburg, local press confirmed the detainment of St Petersburg’s Maxim Reznik, the legislative assembly deputy. Protests and arrests were also said to have taken place in several Siberian cities. Police announced prior to today’s action that anyone holding banners or placards, or who looked to be protesting, would be detained.

In pictures and footage spreading across social media, hundreds of people are shown to have been detained, including teenage girls. Some of the images show police using force.

The anti-Kremlin movement continues to gain traction: back in March, over 60,000 people took to cities across Russia to demonstrate against Dmitry Medvedev, the prime minister accused of corruption. More than 1,000 people were arrested. While some were released after a short period of time, others spent 15 days in prison. One rebel was handed an 18-month sentence, which could have been a random act to put people off organising. 

Today’s protests took place on the same day as military reenactments intended to mark Russia day (celebrating the 1990 declaration of sovereignty), so many were unsanctioned by police. Around 169 locations were given permission. Moscow authorities allowed Navalny to hold his protest on a designated street, though organisers found themselves at a loss for equipment when companies told them the mayor’s office had forbidden them from contributing to the protest. The protest was then moved elsewhere, to Tverskaya, as was thus unauthorised.

Anna Meigan, one of the young women detained in Moscow, told CNN: “My sister and I went to an anti-corruption rally. We left the Pushkinskaya metro station and after five minutes the riot police ran up to us and dragged us to the police bus, which after a few minutes was already crowded with people.”

Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s press secretary, detailed the police’s use of tear gas against the crowds. Videos posted online show Moscow protesters shouting “Putin is a thief”, “Russia without thieves” and “Putin out”.