Russian opposition activist and leader of Progress Party Alexei Navalny was pelted with rotten eggs by unidentified persons with placards of the National Liberation Movement ahead of his press conference in Novosibirsk, a TASS correspondent reported from the scene on Sunday.

"I’m very pleased to be in the city of Novosibirsk. The situation with foodstuffs in the city is so good that they are thrown out in the streets," the opposition leader said, calling the incident an instance of "hooliganism."

About a dozen persons have gathered in front of the building where Navalny is holding a press conference. They are holding placards with the symbols of the National Liberation Movement and the photographs of the oppositionist depicted against the background of the US flag.

The Novosibirsk interior department told TASS it would launch a probe into the incident if Navalny or the press conference organizers turned to the police with the corresponding application.

Navalny arrived in Novosibirsk as part of primaries organized by Russia’s Democratic Coalition.