Opposition activist Alexei Navalny will appeal the Russian Central Elections Commission decision to deny registration of a group of voters in support of his self-nomination as a presidential candidate, which the Russian Supreme Court upheld on Saturday, Navalny's lawyer Ivan Zhdanov said.

"We will contest today's judgment by the Russian Supreme Court in an appeals court. We will also submit an appeal to the ECHR [the European Court of Human Rights]," Zhdanov told Interfax on Saturday.

The Russian state has violated a number of articles of the European Convention on Human Rights in respect of Navalny, including "the right to a fair trial," he said.

"Today's decision was predictable" to Navalny, he said.

"We understood that this would be a political decision. But we will continue to go through all appellation stages," Zhdanov told journalists following the hearing.

Navalny himself did not appear at the court hearing on Saturday. His lawyers explained that "the opposition leader understood that the decision would be political and therefore delegated his representatives instead."

Earlier on Saturday, the Russian Supreme Court had turned down Navalny's appeal against the Central Elections Commission's decision to deny registration of a group of activists in support of his nomination as a presidential candidate.

Navalny is expected to file an appeal within five days.