Russian opposition politician Yevgeny Roizman has been shown being detained at his home in a video published on social media today.
Footage of the arrest showed Mr Roizman, former mayor of the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, telling reporters that he was being investigated under a law against discrediting the armed forces as he was taken away by law enforcement officials.
Mr Roizman said he was being arrested “basically for one phrase, the invasion of Ukraine'”.
Asked where he had used the phrase, he replied: “I’ve said it everywhere and I’ll say it now.”
State news agency TASS cited Yekaterinburg security services as confirming the reason for the arrest, saying Mr Roizman was being investigated for “discrediting the Russian army”.
The offence, which was introduced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, carries a prison sentence of up to five years.
Mr Roizman, an outspoken supporter of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, became one of Russia’s most prominent opposition figures in 2013, after he was elected mayor of Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth largest city.
Source: Skynews