Over 1100 arrested at pro-Navalny protest in St. Petersburg

Riot police clashed with protesters in Russia's second-largest city of St. Petersburg on Sunday at a protest demanding the release of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Thousands marched in columns across the city, chanting "Down with the czar!" and occasional scuffles erupted as some demonstrators pushed back police who tried to make detentions. Over 1,100 were arrested.

At protests across the country more than 5,100 people were detained by police, according to OVD-Info, a group that monitors political arrests.

The massive protests came despite efforts by Russian authorities to stem the tide of demonstrations after tens of thousands rallied across the country last weekend in the largest, most widespread show of discontent that Russia had seen in years.

Despite threats of jail terms, warnings to social media groups and tight police cordons, the protests again engulfed cities across Russia's 11 time zones on Sunday.

Navalny's team quickly called another protest in Moscow for Tuesday, when he is set to face a court hearing that could send him to prison for years.

The 44-year-old, an anti-corruption investigator who is Putin's best-known critic, was arrested on January 17 upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin.

Russian authorities have rejected the accusations.

He was arrested for allegedly violating his parole conditions by not reporting for meetings with law enforcement when he was recuperating in Germany.