MOSCOW: Russian authorities arrested on Sunday at least 150 people taking part in opposition demonstrations in Moscow and St Petersburg organised by former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, police said.

Police spokesmen said about 90 people were detained in Moscow and 60 in St Petersburg for attempting to take part in unauthorised demonstrations.

Hundreds of anti-riot police packed Triumfalnaya Square in central Moscow — surrounding it with trucks and metal barriers — to stop the rally from going ahead. Dozens of people were detained and forced into police buses.

A Kasparov spokeswoman, Lyudmila Mamina, said the Kremlin critic had tried but been unable to reach the square for the protest because of the police presence.

“He is now at home but the road outside is now blocked by police,” she said.

Kasparov and other activists had planned the “Dissenters’ March” a day after they launched a new opposition group, Solidarity, and vowed to “dismantle” the regime of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Kasparov’s website said that among those detained was Alexei Fomin, a former general who was held with other retired Russian military officers.

The group, the Union of Soviet Officers, had gathered to mark the anniversary of a December 1825 military revolt against Tsar Nicholas I. About 15 elderly people, who said they were retired military officers, being detained at Pushkin Square by police as they prepared to head for the march.

“Around 90 people were detained,” Moscow police spokesman Viktor Biryukov said, adding they may face administrative measures, a term that usually means fines.—AFP