Ukrainians march to celebrate anniversary of nationalist hero's birthday
- 9 years ago
ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION).
Thousands of Ukrainians marched through the streets of central Kiev holding torchlights on Thursday (January 1) night to celebrate the 106th anniversary of Ukrainian nationalist hero Stepan Bandera's birth.
Chanting "Glory to Bandera!" and "Glory to Ukraine!", about 5,000 people marched waving the red and black flags of Ukraine's nationalist movement and the blue and yellow flags of the far-right Svoboda ("Freedom") party. They were carrying Stepan Bandera's portraits and playing the drums. Smaller marches also took place in other Ukrainian towns, such as Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Odessa.
Around 300 police officers were deployed along the march route in Ukraine's capital. Many people had their faces covered.
Bandera, who led the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists in the first part of the 20th century is revered by Ukrainian nationalists for fighting Russian and Polish occupation in Ukraine but denounced by others as a Nazi coll
Thousands of Ukrainians marched through the streets of central Kiev holding torchlights on Thursday (January 1) night to celebrate the 106th anniversary of Ukrainian nationalist hero Stepan Bandera's birth.
Chanting "Glory to Bandera!" and "Glory to Ukraine!", about 5,000 people marched waving the red and black flags of Ukraine's nationalist movement and the blue and yellow flags of the far-right Svoboda ("Freedom") party. They were carrying Stepan Bandera's portraits and playing the drums. Smaller marches also took place in other Ukrainian towns, such as Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Odessa.
Around 300 police officers were deployed along the march route in Ukraine's capital. Many people had their faces covered.
Bandera, who led the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists in the first part of the 20th century is revered by Ukrainian nationalists for fighting Russian and Polish occupation in Ukraine but denounced by others as a Nazi coll