Speaking before the verdict, Navalny urged Russians to stand up to the Kremlin in a fiery speech mixing references to the Bible and ``Harry Potter.''

Navalny faces charges he slandered a World War Two veteran who backed last year's reforms that let Vladimir Putin run for two more terms in the Kremlin after 2024 if he wants.

Alexei Navalny was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison earlier this week.

Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Marc Garneau said Canada was "appalled" by the decision to imprison Navalny.

Protesters joined sister demonstrations in cities around the world against the detention of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The 44-year-old Navalny, an anti-corruption investigator who is the best-known critic of President Vladimir Putin, was arrested on Jan. 17.

Navalny was arrested returning to Moscow from Germany, where he had been recovering after being poisoned by a fatal military-grade nerve agent called Novichok.

Biden has looked to establish a sharp break from the warm rhetoric often displayed toward Putin by his predecessor, Donald Trump.

Dmitry Peskov made the criticism on Sunday, a day after protests took place across the country demanding the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

More than 2,600 protesters, as well as Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, were detained on Saturday.