MOSCOW 

Russian police raided Wednesday the apartment and the office of jailed Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny, according to one of his allies.

Police searched the apartment of Navalny in Maryino, south-east of Moscow, Ivan Zhdanov, director of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, wrote on Twitter.

He said the searches were carried out for alleged violation of epidemiological or sanitary standards.

Navalny’s brother Oleg Navalny was at the apartment during the raid, Zhdanov added.

The police also searched another apartment where Navalny’s wife is living and the office of his Anti-Corruption Foundation.

The raid has come after many countries across the world called on Russia to release Navalny while nationwide protests were held in the country against his detention.

Navalny, 44, who received treatment in Germany for poisoning, was arrested in Moscow upon his return on Jan. 17. Russian authorities said he had violated probation terms from a suspended sentence on a 2014 money laundering offense, which Navalny says is "politically motivated."

Less than 25 hours after his return, Moscow's Khimki Court ruled that Navalny would remain in custody on 30-day pre-trial detention.

He is now behind bars in Moscow's infamous jail Matrosskaya Tishina./aa