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Ukrainian nationalists march on 111th birthday of Stepan Bandera (PHOTOS)

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A man holds a torch at a rally to mark the 111th anniversary of the birth of Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera in Kyiv on Jan. 1, 2020.
Photo by Oleg Petrasiuk

Over a thousand people in Kyiv and other cities throughout Ukraine gathered for an annual torch-lit march to celebrate the 111th anniversary of the birth of Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera on Jan. 1.

In Kyiv, the participants gathered at Taras Shevchenko Park, lit torches and marched in a column through the city center to Independence Square. This year, the march was organized by the nationalist Svoboda party. It was carried out peacefully without incident.

Bandera (1909-1959) is a deeply devisive figure. Many in Ukraine glorify him as the leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and a fighter for Ukrainian independence. Others — including the Kremlin — demonize him as a Nazi collaborator. Historians have implicated the OUN in the killings of Jews and Poles during World War II.

Bandera was also imprisoned by Nazi Germany for leading a nationalist movement which would eventually fight against both the Nazis and the Soviet Union.

After the war, Bandera lived in Munich, Germany, where he was killed by an agent of the Soviet KGB in 1959.

Last year, nearly 2,000 activists from nationalist political parties Svoboda and Right Sector organized a similar march to mark Bandera’s birthday. Approximately 500 activists from the far-right National Corps political party also marched through the Ukrainian capital.