"I cannot and will not be silent, watching how the pseudo-historical nonsense about the events of 100 years ago became an excuse for Russians to kill Ukrainians, and those, defending themselves, to kill Russians," Mr Navalny wrote on Twitter.

"Putin is not Russia," he continued. "We cannot wait any longer. Wherever you are, in Russia, Belarus or on the other side of the planet, go to the main square of your city every weekday and at 2pm on weekends and holidays."

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Hundreds of people have been arrested in the aftermath of the invasion as they took to the streets in cities across Russia.

"Every person arrested must be replaced by two people who have come out, Mr Navalny said.

"If - to stop the war - we have to stuff the jails and the police vans, we will stuff the jails and the police vans.

"Everything has a price, and now, in the spring of 2022, we must pay that price. There is no one else. Let's not 'be against the war.' Let's fight against the war."

He added that his imprisonment means he is able to call for peace and that others should go to Russian embassies to protest.

Mr Navalny, 45, the most prominent opponent of President Putin, was jailed last year after surviving what he says was a Russian attempt to poison him.

In 2020, he was exposed to a nerve agent on a flight from Tomsk in Siberia, to Moscow. He was arrested on his return to Russia from Germany, where he had been flown for medical treatment.

Russia has denied carrying out such an attack.

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Mr Navalny is serving a three and a half year sentence but he went on trial again accused of fresh fraud charges last month inside the maximum security prison east of Moscow where he is detained.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, has described the charges - which carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison - as dubious.

They allege Mr Navalny stole £3.5m of donations to his political organisations.

Marina Litvinovich, another well-known Russian human rights activist, previously urged Russians to take to the streets to show their opposition to the invasion of Ukraine.

"We, the Russian people, are against the war Putin has unleashed," she said in a video statement on Facebook.

"We don't support this war, it is being waged not on our behalf."

Anti-war protests have taken place across the world, including in the UK, with demonstrators calling for an end for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.