Police in Moscow on Saturday began detaining people ahead of a rally in the Russian capital in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, a Reuters reporter said.

The rally is due to start at 1100 GMT.

Several hundred people had gathered just over an hour beforehand. A Reuters reporter said he saw police detain 11 people and that detentions were continuing.

Navalny called on his supporters to protest after being arrested last weekend when he returned to Moscow for the first time after being poisoned in August with a military-grade nerve agent. Navalny had been treated in Germany.