Around a thousand supporters of the Svoboda All-Ukrainian Union took part in a torchlight procession in the capital on the occasion of the 104th anniversary of the birth of Leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) Stepan Bandera.
On Tuesday evening, Svoboda’s supporters gathered in the Park named after Shevchenko with flags and banners and marched through the main streets of Kyiv to the Independence Square, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.
The procession and rally were peaceful and passed without incidents.
Similar marches were held in many cities of Ukraine on Tuesday. This is a traditional event, which the Svoboda Party holds on January 1.
Bandera, born on January 1, 1909, was a Ukrainian political activist who headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), which fought for Ukraine’s independence from Polish, Russian and other foreign invaders. Bandera was killed by KGB agent Bohdan Stashynsky in Munich on October 15, 1959.
On January 20, 2010, third Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko conferred the Hero of Ukrainian title to Stepan Bandera, the leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).
On August 2, 2011 the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine upheld a ruling of Donetsk Circuit Court dated April 2, 2010 and a ruling of Donetsk Administrative Court of Appeals dated June 23, 2010 that declared illegal Yuschenko’s decree dated January 20, 2010 conferring the Hero of Ukraine title to Bandera.
