More than 1,000 Russians, including Vladimir Putin’s most prominent foe, were jailed on Saturday during rallies opposing his inauguration.

The so-called “He is not our Czar’’ protests took place throughout the country, from Yakutsk in the far northeast to St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad on the Baltic coast.

Alexei Navalny, the anti-corruption campaigner who was among the organizers, was seized by police in Moscow’s Pushkin Square, where thousands were gathered for the unauthorized protest.

Cops carried a thrashing Navalny by the arms and legs through the crowd. The police also used batons on demonstrators chanting slogans like “Putin is a thief!” and “Russia will be free!”

A Russian non-governmental monitoring group said 574 people were arrested in Moscow alone.

“I think that Putin isn’t worthy of leading this country. He has been doing it for 18 years and has done nothing good for it,” said Moscow demonstrator Dmitry Nikitenko.

“He should leave for good.”

The protests across the country were a sign that the opposition, which is mostly ignored by state-controlled television, has considerable support. Russian authorities have tried to portray the opposition as marginalized and confined to urban elites.

Putin’s inauguration for a new six-year term is set for Monday. He won re-election in March with 77 percent of the vote. Navalny was blocked from challenging him because of a felony conviction.

With Post wires