Prominent Russian opposition figure arrested

Prominent Russian opposition politician and former mayor of Yekaterinburg, Yevgeny Roizman, was arrested on Wednesday, according to reports.

He stands accused of spreading false information about the Russian army in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, according to news portal e1.ru, which showed a video clip of Roizman talking about his arrest.

One of the last fierce critics of the Kremlin still active in public, Roizman could face up to 10 years in prison.

The 59-year-old owns a museum and a charity foundation in Yekaterinburg. Heavily armed and masked security forces entered the charity establishment without presenting a search warrant, the foundation's director said. Roizman's offices were also searched.

Documents, computers and other devices were seized, according to Russian news agency Tass.

As former mayor, Roizman still has many supporters in the city east of the Ural Mountains.

Russian authorities have not confirmed the arrest.

A spokesperson for detained opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Kira Yarmysh, claimed Putin had timed the arrest to coincide with the six-month anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine.

While there are other opposition figures remaining, none have the name recognition and popularity of Roizman.

Political analyst Abbas Gallyamov reiterated the claim that the arrest had been times to distract the Russian public from the war.

"An increasing number of people are listening to the opposition, which therefore cannot be free," Gallyamov said.