You're reading: Russian opposition member Udaltsov denies being taken off Kyiv-bound train

Moscow - Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov has denied reports claiming that he was detained while attempting to cross the Russian-Ukrainian border.

"I am in Moscow at the moment. I do not know who has been spreading these lies and why. It is either a joke or a deliberate provocation," the Russian opposition activist said.

Udaltsov said he had recently returned from Yaroslavl, where he and "local activists discussed their participation in the March of a Million in Moscow on May 6."

Left Front Council member Dmitry Galkin told Interfax earlier that Udaltsov had not been able to attend a congress of Ukraine’s Borotba (Struggle) left-wing party in Kyiv on Monday because he had allegedly been detained on the Russian-Ukrainian border.

"The information available to Left Front activists indicates that Sergei Udaltsov was detained by Russian services while crossing the border and was not allowed to leave Russia," Galkin said.