Ukrainian nationalists rally on anniversary of nationalist Bandera

(1 Jan 2018) Hundreds marched through Kiev on Monday to honour Stepan Bandera, a controversial Ukrainian independence leader who died in 1959. The march was held in Ukraine s capital on what would have been Bandera s 109th birthday. Bandera remains a deeply divisive figure in Ukraine, glorified by many in western Ukraine as a freedom fighter but dismissed by millions in eastern and southeastern Ukraine as a traitor to the Soviet Union s struggle against the occupying German army. He was a leader of Ukraine s nationalist movement in the 1930s and 1940s, which included an insurgent army that fought alongside Nazi soldiers during part of the Second World War. Bandera s supporters claim they sided with the Nazis against the Soviet army, believing that Adolf Hitler would grant Ukraine independence. Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: ,