Russian policemen detained historian Valery Solovei after he and dozens of other protesters marched through the centre of Moscow on Saturday to show solidarity with protests in the far eastern city of Khabarovsk.

Kremlin critic Solovei, 60, worked for the elite Moscow State Institute of International Relations until last year when he left his job for what he said were “political reasons”.

A video posted online showed several policemen in body armour and black face masks grabbing Solovei and escorting him to a police car in the Pushkinskaya Square in central Moscow.