Alexei Navalny: Vladimir Putin critic released from prison after 15 days

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been released from prison after serving a 15-day sentence for handing out leaflets to promote a protest rally.

Alexei Navalny left a Moscow detention centre a week after the killing of Boris Nemtsov.

The March 1 rally for which Alexei Navalny was leafleting instead became a mourning march for Boris Nemtsov.

Alexei Navalny says the legal cases against him are politically motivated.

In 2014, Alexei Navalny and his brother Oleg were found guilty of stealing 30 million rubles ($462,000) from two companies.

Oleg Navalny was given a 3-and-a-half-year jail sentence, while Alexei Navalny received a suspended sentence that prosecutors say they will appeal against.

Speaking to reporters after his release on March 6, he vowed to continue his work despite the murder of Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead outside the Kremlin walls in what his allies say was a political killing.

“Our activity won’t change at all, we won’t reduce our efforts, we won’t step back,” Alexei Navalny said.

“That terrorist act didn’t achieve its aim, it didn’t frighten anyone, doesn’t frighten me or my associates.”