Kremlin compares Navalny protesters with terrorists

Vladimir Putin's spokesman on Monday defended the Russian president's comments in which he compared protesters at mass rallies across Russia to terrorists.

Dmitry Peskov said Putin had been referring to "those who hide behind children and women" at protests.

"Don't terrorists hide behind women and children?", he added.

Peskov said that dialogue between protesters and authorities is impossible and that demonstrators who attacked police officers during rallies "should be prosecuted under law".

The protests were sparked by the arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

During Saturday's protests, over 3,700 people were detained, according to OVD-Info, a human rights group that monitors political arrests.

The group said the number was a record in its nine years of work.

More than 1,400 detentions occurred in Moscow alone - also a record, according to Russian media.