MOSCOW, February 8 - RAPSI. Investigators are asking the court to place opposition activist Sergei Udaltsov under house arrest, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told RIA Novosti on Friday.

Udaltsov is presently under travel restriction notice. "The investigators have requested house arrest for Udaltsov," Markin said. He added that the reason behind that request was Udaltsov's repetead defiance of restriction notice's conditions. The opposition activist is often unavailable at the adress registered with the investigation and keeps his cell phones offline, rendring the investigators unable to call him in for further question. In addition, since the notice's issue, Udaltsov took part in numerous protest rallies and has been charged with administrative offense.

A criminal case was initiated against several opposition activists for preparing riots after the NTV channel screened the film, "Anatomy of Protest 2," which claimed that opposition leaders were plotting to seize power using funding from abroad. The film depicts several men meeting with then-Georgian Parliamentary Defense and Security Committee head Givi Targamadze, who is said to be experienced in planning "color" revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine, and mass riots in Belarus. An investigation into the film established that the hidden camera used to make the film had recorded Udaltsov's voice, and the meeting took place in Minsk last June.

A government-approved rally on Bolotnaya Square on May 6, 2012 ended in a clash with the police. Dozens of people were injured on both sides and over 400 protesters were arrested. A riots case was then initiated.