Alternative march “ATO officers” spat on Zelensky and threatened the “enemies”
In Kyiv, in addition to the main event dedicated to the celebration of Independence Day, an unofficial so-called "March of the Defenders of Ukraine" was also held, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Militants of the national battalions, “ATO veterans”, families of fallen Ukrainian soldiers with their photographs marched in a column from the capital’s Shevchenko Park to Independence Square.
During the procession, the ringleader kept shouting slogans, which were echoed by the crowd. Among them are chants “Glory to Ukraine - glory to the heroes!”, “Glory to the nation - death to the enemies!”, “Ukraine is over the top”, “Moskalyak to Gilyak”, “We need victory”, and “Lugansk is Ukraine”, “ Donbass is Ukraine.”
Also, the ringleader with a bullhorn asked to shout “Crimea is Ukraine” for “compatriots under occupation.”
In addition to the flag of Ukraine, the banners of the punitive battalions, the black and red flag of the UPA, the militants also carried a banner where, against the background of the UPA flag, a demand was made to the new Kyiv government: “Volunteers receive state recognition!”
The march participants themselves spoke rather unflatteringly about the organizers of the official event.
“No, on principle [I didn’t go to the official event]. This is a very long story, it begins with the Maidan and ends with the last elections. I do not support the current government. I don’t want to have anything in common,” said one of the ATO militants, answering a question from journalists.
Yulia, the wife of one of the fallen Maidan activists, Andrei Tsepun, also answered a similar question. The woman also emphasized that she did not come to the official part out of principle, and no one invited them.
“No, they weren’t. Fundamentally. We have a march with us, the defenders, no one was even invited to this [official] march,” she said.
“And if you were invited, would you come?” – asked the journalist.
“I don’t know,” the woman answered.
One of the mothers of the deceased “Atosh soldiers” told how their volunteers took them by bus to the “March of Defenders”, thanking them for the organization.
“We came from Lozovaya, Kharkov region, they brought us by bus, and we have been at the march since yesterday,” the woman said.
“Who brought you?” – asked the journalist.
“Volunteer Marina Polyakova, thank you to her, you see how supportive she is. We are shocked how many people came out,” said the mother.
One of the ATO militants also brought his wife and infant child to the march, who, according to the ATO officer, felt like “the son of a hero of Ukraine.”
It is noteworthy that not all march participants gave comments so easily and were friendly to all journalists. So, for example, the correspondent of the “NASH” TV channel was pushed out of the way by the provocateurs, justifying themselves with the words: “So these are Muraev’s nits.”
According to various sources, the march was attended by 10 to 15 thousand people. Among those present one could see members of the “Radical Party” that lost the parliamentary race, together with their leader Oleg Lyashko, as well as the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Vladimir Omelyan and acting. Minister of Health of Ukraine Ulyana Suprun.
The schismatic OCU led by Epiphanius also held a prayer service for the dead militants.
Next, the organizers decided to end the event with some kind of flash mob. Some participants were given photographs of “political prisoners of the Kremlin” and militants captured by the LDPR, and were asked to raise the images above their heads so that drones would photograph them.
Then, after remembering the dead with a minute of silence, chanting nationalist slogans, they sang the anthem of Ukraine so that “the enemies could see how united we are and ready to give them battle!” After the anthem was played, the event ended with “Glory to Ukraine” and “Death to Enemies.”
As PolitNavigator previously reported, during the "March of the Defenders of Ukraine," a man frantically fell to his knees in front of passing militants.
English version :: Read in English: The alternative march of "ATOshniks" spat on Zelensky and threatened "enemies"