The right-wing Svoboda party gathered 10,000 people for their annual march in downtown Kyiv on Oct. 14 to mark the day of the foundation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
They started with speeches at the Taras Shevchenko monument in the Shevchenko Park.
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Party leaders spoke out in favor of reinstating the Hero of Ukraine title to Stepan Bandera, the post- World War II leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists-Ukrainian Insurgent Army (OUN-UPA). President Viktor Yanukovych stripped Bandera of his title.
Under police watch, demonstrators went to St. Michael’s Square chanting “Bandera is our hero.”
In a sea of red and black UPA flags, some carried former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s white flags and chanted “Free Yulia.” No fights broke out during the rally.
Some demonstrators, however, burned the flag of the pro-presidential Regions’ party in front of the St. Sophia’s Cathedral.
Photos by Andrew Kravchenko
