Nationalists and right-wing radicals reminded in Kiev of the founding of the Ukrainian Uprising Army 76 years ago. They marched through the Ukrainian capital on Sunday accompanied by a large police force. Supporters of the German neo-Nazi small party "The Third Way" and the NPD Youth "Young Nationalists", who partly wore flags and banners.
In total, thousands of people participated in the march. Official figures of the police are not yet available. Several participants were masked or uniformed.
The rally has been held since 2014 for the "Day of the Defenders of Ukraine" - since 2015 a holiday in the country. The authorities said they used 6,000 police officers this year. They talked about an altogether peaceful course until the early evening.
Before the demonstration, several people had tried to destroy a monument from Soviet times. According to Russian media reports, there was a fight with the security forces.
Orthodox feared occupations of churches
The Ukrainian Uprising Army was founded in western Ukraine during the German occupation. Their fighters took 1943 ethnic cleansing in the Volyn region. Tens of thousands of Poles were killed. After the war, they fought until the early fifties, especially in present-day Western Ukraine against Soviet and Polish security forces.
In the run-up, representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, who feel attached to Moscow, expressed concern that churches and monasteries would be occupied by the demonstrations. The Ministry of the Interior then threatened a crackdown. Background are aspirations of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine for ecclesiastical independence from Russia.