Russian Nationalists March As Kremlin Celebrates 'Unity Day'

Nationalists paraded in Moscow and other cities on November 4 in an annual event called the Russian March, while the Kremlin held patriotic celebrations of the National Unity Day holiday created by President Vladimir Putin. A motley crowd of up to 2,000 mostly male nationalists, some carrying tsarist-era flags, filed though metal detectors in a southeastern Moscow neighborhood and walked down a short stretch of two lane road flanked by tall tower blocks as riot police watched from behind a cordon. The marchers -- some in masks, others in camouflage or baseball caps -- chanted slogans such as "Russia for Russians," "One for all and all for one," and "Forward, Russians." A few threw out their hands in Nazi-style salutes, but the march was mainly peaceful. A separate march was being held later in northwestern Moscow.