Kiev, Ukraine (AP) —Hundreds of Ukrainian nationalists torch in the capital of Kiev to commemorate the birthday of Stepan Bandera, the leader of the rebels who fought Nazi soldiers in World War II. We marched.
Many believe that Sunday’s march could signal an invasion amid persistent concerns about the rallying of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border. The large sector of eastern Ukraine has been under the control of Russian-backed separatist rebels since 2014.
“Today, when there is a war with the front occupiers and the fight against the” fifth column “continues in the rear, we remember and respect Stephan Bandera,” said the Nationalist Party. Leader Andrie Thalassenko said. sector.
Bandera was the leader of the Ukrainian nationalist movement, including the rebels who fought with the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s. Proponents of Bandera claim that Adolf Hitler supported the Nazis against the Soviet army, believing that it would give Ukraine independence.
Jewish groups have associated Bandera followers with the Jewish massacre.