Clashes in Kiev over WWII insurgency

There have been clashes in the centre of Ukraine’s capital, as controversy over the role of a guerilla movement in World War Two resurfaces.

Nationalists and leftists had wanted to mass in Independence Square to mark the 63rd anniversary of the founding of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which fought both Nazi invaders and Soviet troops. Fights broke out, despite police efforts to keep the two sides apart. Nationalists in Western Ukraine, who suffered under Soviet rule, joined the guerilla movement en masse in a bid to secure an independent state. Thousands of other Ukrainians put on Nazi uniforms and fought the Red Army in a unit known as the SS Galicia. Nationalists want officials to grant veterans of the insurgent army the status of war combatants. Leftists and communists denounce any recognition of the guerilla force.

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