The protests began in the city of Vladivostok in the far east of Russia and spread to the west as the day progressed. Videos posted on social media showed crowds of people gathering in Vladivostok and a number of cities in Siberia and central Russia.
One video showed a small protest in the city of Yakutsk, where the temperature dropped to -53 degrees Celsius (-63 Fahrenheit) on Saturday.
The protests did not get an official government permit and the authorities warned people not to attend.
Several Navalny allies were detained this week for inciting the protests, including its spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh, the anti-corruption investigator Georgy Alburov and opposition activist Lyubov Sobol.
The coordinator of Navalny’s Moscow office, Oleg Stepanov, was detained on Saturday, according to a tweet from Navalny’s Moscow team. A demonstration in the Russian capital would begin at 2 p.m. local time (6 p.m. ET).
The Russian Foreign Ministry has accused the United States of encouraging the protests after the US embassy in Russia posted a warning on its website advising US citizens to avoid the protests.
In a tweet published Saturday, the ministry said the posting of information about the rallies “is in line with Washington’s challenging policy to encourage protests in countries whose governments are seen by the United States as undesirable.”
According to Russian law, an official appeal for the approval of a protest must be made to the local authorities at least ten days before the event. Navalny was arrested just under a week ago, so the organizers did not have enough time to lodge an appeal.
The Russian internet regulator said on Thursday it plans to fine large social networks, including Twitter, Facebook and TikTok, for “disseminating information prohibited by law and aimed at enticing minors to participate in unauthorized public events”. to take.”
CNN’s Fred Pleitgen, Zahra Ullah and Anna Chernova in Moscow reported.