Russian police raid opposition activists' homes

Russian authorities on Tuesday ramped up their pressure on political dissent ahead of parliamentary elections, arresting one opposition activist and raiding the homes of several others.

Andrei Pivovarov, the head of the Open Russia movement which dissolved itself last week, was pulled off a plane at St. Petersburg's airport late Monday and was to be taken to Krasnodar in southern Russia Tuesday as part of a criminal probe against him.

Also on Tuesday, police raided the country home of opposition political candidate Dmitry Gudkov, a former lawmaker who aspires to run for parliament in September.

At least two of his associates - his former assistant Alexander Solovyov and his chief of Dmitry Gudkov's staff Vitaly Venediktov, also had their homes searched.

Venediktov described his detention as "a new round of political prosecution".

The moves are part of a multi-pronged crackdown in Russia that is widely seen as an effort to prevent any opposition groups from mounting a challenge to the ruling United Russia party in September's parliamentary elections.

United Russia's popularity has waned amid the country's economic slowdown.

Last week, Pivovarov announced that Open Russia was shutting down to protect its members from prosecution after the authorities had designated it as "undesirable."

The government has already outlawed more than 30 groups using a 2015 law that made membership of "undesirable" organizations a criminal offense.

Another bill now making its way through parliament tightens punishment for their members.

Open Russia was financed by tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who moved to London after spending 10 years in prison in Russia on charges widely seen as political revenge for challenging Russian President Vladimir Putin's rule.

In March, police briefly detained about 200 participants of a forum of members of municipal councils that Open Russia helped organize.