Russian police carry out mass raids against opposition activists

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny says searches show 'Putin is very angry' after Moscow polls

Russian state security services have carried out simultaneous nationwide raids on the Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's regional headquarters four days after pro-Putin candidates suffered massive losses in the Moscow city assembly elections.

The operation, involving more than 1,000 officers in at least 200 individual raids and ostensibly in connection with money-laundering charges Navalny says are politically motivated, was carried out across 40 towns and cities the length and breadth of Russia, from Murmansk in the Arctic to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast. The homes of dozens of Navalny activists were also searched.