A Russian court sentenced opposition leader Alexei Navalny to 30 days in prison in a snap trial on Monday, one day after his return to Moscow.

Russian dissident Alexei Navalny has been detained at Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow, according to a post on Navalny's Telegram channel. He was detained while going through passport control, according to the post.

Moscow on Tuesday extended its suspension of flights with Britain, after officials said they had detected the new UK strain of the coronavirus in Russia.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the head of Georgia's ruling party and its richest citizen, said on Monday he was quitting politics, two months after a parliamentary election his opponents allege was rigged, Reuters reported.

Ukraine closed schools, restaurants and gyms on Friday as a tighter nationwide lockdown took effect to fight the coronavirus pandemic in the nation of 41 million people, Reuters reported.

Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said in an interview published on Monday that the EU has been too slow and indecisive to adequately help Belarus, dpa reported.

Thousands of doctors, teachers and others in high-risk groups have signed up for COVID-19 vaccinations in Moscow starting Saturday, a precursor to a sweeping Russia-wide immunization effort.

Azerbaijani forces on Tuesday moved into the final district given up by Armenia in a peace deal that ended weeks of fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Moldova opposition candidate Maia Sandu, who favours closer ties with the EU, promised to unite the country and tackle corruption as she looked on course to beat pro-Moscow incumbent Igor Dodon in a presidential run-off on Sunday, Reuters reported.

Thousands of protesters rallied in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Saturday to back opposition calls for a re-run of the parliamentary election, held on 31 October, news wires reported. The opposition accuses the ruling Georgian Dream party and its supporters of vote buying, making threats against voters and observers, and of violations during the count. Eight opposition parties including the UNM have said they would boycott parliament.