MOSCOW (AFP) - A Russian court on Thursday ruled to extend the house arrest of prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny by another six months, his support team said.

"The house arrest for Navalny has been extended by six months," said Navalny's Twitter feed which is updated by his team.

Supporters of the 37-year-old anti-corruption blogger, who has been under house arrest since February, had feared he would be transferred from his apartment to a pre-trial jail during Thursday's hearing.

Mr Navalny faces charges of stealing and laundering 27 million rubles (S$1.005 million) from French cosmetics company Yves Rocher.