Russian held for playing 'Pokemon Go' in church released

A court in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg has released a blogger who was sent to pre-trial detention for playing "Pokemon Go" in a church.

A lawyers' group said on Thursday that the court has released the 21-year old Ruslan Sokolovsky on bail and that he will remain under house arrest at his attorney's apartment.

Investigators have charged the blogger with enticing religious hatred, the same offense that sent two women from the Pussy Riot punk collective to prison for two years in 2012.

Sokolovsky posted a video on his blog showing himself playing the smartphone game in a church built on the supposed spot where the family of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II, was killed.