MOSCOW, March 5 (Reuters) - Russian riot police detained opposition figurehead Alexei Navalny on Monday after a protest challenging Vladimir Putin's victory in a presidential election.
"Hello everyone from the police van," Navalny, an anti-corruption blogger, said on Twitter. At least one other protest leader was detained, witnesses at the scene said.
Riot police tried to disperse a group of protesters who remained on Moscow's Pushkin Square, the scene of dissident demonstrations in Soviet times, after a rally calling for new elections and political reforms.
Protest leaders said about 20,000 people attended the rally. Police said 14,000 people attended. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Alissa de Carbonnel, writing by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by Timothy Heritage)
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