Alexei Navalny mayoral campaign

A small concrete box marked with the word SHIZO (punishment cell in Russian) in giant red letters sits incongruously next to a 13th-century church just behind the Louvre museum in Paris.

The grey box is a mock-up of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's punishment prison cell that his team unveiled in the French capital on March 14.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was detained by police on Thursday but then released a short while later, weeks ahead of a presidential election in which he has been barred from running, writes Reuters.

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, Reuters reported. 

Russia's Supreme Court rejected the appeal of opposition Alexei Navalny, who is trying to change the controversial decision not to be allowed to compete with Vladimir Putin in the presidential election, RIA Novosti reported.

Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called US Department of State's reaction on the Russian Central Election Commission's decision not to accept documents of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who wanted to run for president, an interference in the Russian presidential election.

In Russia, protests are increasing and the quality of government is falling, says Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny will be able to run for election after 2028. This was stated by the chairwoman of the CEC of the Russian Federation, Ela Pamfilova, quoted on Tuesday by TASS.

A verdict against Navalny for financial abuse, which he believes is politically motivated, stops him legally to participate in the elections in spring.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he had not yet decided whether he would run for re-election in March 2018, something he is widely expected to do, Reuters writes.

"Not only have I not decided yet who I will stand against, I have not decided whether I will run at all," Putin said, when asked who he would run against at the election.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced yesterday to 20 days in prison for organizing unauthorized protests, France's press reported, quoted by BTA.

This will temporarily suspend his campaign for the presidential election next year.

It is a gift for Putin's birthday, "said Navalny, referring to President Vladimir Putin, who celebrated 65 years on Saturday.

The campaign of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in the Russian province before the presidential elections in the spring is bordering civil disobedience, Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes.