Police reported that more than 46,500 people celebrated nationwide. In Kyiv, the communists combined their celebrations with marches and protests against the International Monetary Fund and “Yushchenko and the oligarchs.” The communists said that 8,000 people were expected at their rally and rock concert on Independence Square in the capital city, but less than half that number turned out. More than 7,000 police officers protected the peace during the rallies held in over 200 communities across the country last Friday. Minor scuffles were reported in Lviv, where a police border had to keep pro and anti-communist protesters from clashing by the Monument to Liberators in the Great Patriotic War in the western Ukrainian city.