Russian Nationalists March Through Moscow

Thousands of Russian nationalists marched around Moscow on Tuesday, the country's National Unity Day holiday, and called for support of ethnic Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.



The holiday — which commemorates the expulsion of Polish troops from Moscow at the end of the 17th century's Time of Troubles, when the country lacked an immediate heir to the throne — was celebrated until the Soviet revolution of 1917 and was reinstated in 2005.



Since its reinstatement, the holiday has been used as a premise for an annual "Russian March" of Slavic nationalists in Moscow. This year, they called for the right of ethnic Russian rebels in Ukraine to form an independent region called Novorossia.



Several hundred nationalists marched from the city's northwest metro station Oktyabrskoye Polye to Shchukinskaya, in one of several such marches that took place around town on Tuesday.



The yellow-and-black flags seen in photos from that event are a variation of the pre-1917 Russian Empire's banner for celebrations.



Read more:

National Unity Day March Shows Decline of Anti-Kremlin Nationalism



See our previous Photo Gallery:

Russia's Air Force Caught on Camera