Three people were detained in an unsanctioned protest over residential construction projects on Wednesday morning, when several dozen people succeeded in blocking Ryazansky Prospekt in southeastern Moscow for 10 minutes, local media reported.

The protest was organized by the United Co-Investors' Committee, a group that says it represents thousands of people who have invested in apartment blocks in Moscow and the Moscow region but cannot move in because of construction delays or legal obstacles.

The organizers said they wanted the authorities to take action against 56 construction companies that had failed to meet their obligations to investors.

Directors of a few of the construction companies involved have been charged with fraud.

On Tuesday, the committee called off the protest, saying that it would hold a news conference instead. According to various reports, however, between 30 and 100 people blocked the street anyway.

"The police tried to stop them, but ... they understood very well that this was not on purpose," said Svetlana Drozdova, a committee member.

"It is just that people are getting desperate."

She said that a lawyer was seeing the detainees.