Russian police seek forced entry to opposition leader Navalny’s office, opposition spokeswoman says

Mikhail Svetlov | Getty Images

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny at a mass march on the one-year anniversary of dissident Boris Nemtsov’s killing on Feb. 27, 2016 in Moscow, Russia.

Russian police arrived at the Moscow headquarters of opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Sunday morning and started to try to force their way in by using an angle grinder, Kira Yarmysh, a spokeswoman for Navalny said.

Photographs posted on the Internet by Navalny’s supporters showed about 14 policemen gathered outside his office door.

Yarmysh said she thought the raid was designed to shut down the work of a TV studio inside.

Hundreds of supporters of Navalny began a nationwide day of protests against the authorities on Sunday, calling on voters to boycott what they said was a rigged presidential election on March 18.