MOSCOW, October 15. /TASS/. International voices should be heard condemning Tuesday's neo-Nazi parades through Ukraine’s capital and other cities, Russia's Foreign Ministry Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and Supremacy of Law Konstantin Dolgov told TASS.

Founding day of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA) was marked by activists from the extremist Right Sector and gunmen from the volunteer Azov battalion.

Rallying through central Kiev, nationalists called for recognition of Ukrainian Insurgent Army veterans as fighters for Ukrainian independence, legalisation of all voluntary battalions active in the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Radicals carrying symbols of Ukrainian WWII extremist leader Stepan Bandera marched in torch-bearing demonstrations in Kiev, Kharkiv, Odessa and Lvov applauding statements of Adolf Hitler and other Nazi advocates.

“This is blatant violation of all international law principles and Nuremberg Tribunal verdicts," said the Russian ministry's Dolgov, adding that calls against Russians were being voiced at the gatherings.

“Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed clearly and in detail Russia’s principled position of absolute unacceptance of growing neo-Nazi sentiment in Europe and the Baltic states,” Dolgov said.

Controversial bill causes nationalist rally

On Tuesday around 8,000 people took part in a nationalist rally in Kiev after the Verkhovna Rada refused to put on its agenda a bill recognizing the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA) as a party fighting for Ukraine’s independence during WWII. Parliament speaker Olexandr Turchynov, in violation of the established procedures, made seven attempts to put this issue for voting and each time failed to score the required 226 votes.

After that, a group of masked young men with flags of the radical nationalist party Svoboda /Freedom/ began to pick out stone blocks from the pavement and throw them at the parliament building. They threw smoke and sound bombs and explosive device at policemen on duty at the building. Fragments of explosive devices reached as high as the second floor of the building, breaking its windows.

As a result, the parliament session was terminated.

Ukrainian nationalists during WWII

The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), which was founded in 1939 in western Ukraine, during WWII actively collaborated with German invaders. The entire left bank part of Ukraine was declared “a Small Germany”. The OUN was actively used by Germans to fight against Soviet partisans. During the German-Polish war, Ukrainian nationalists played an active role in organizing attacks against the Polish army and punitive operations against the Polish population. In 1943, the OUN was transformed by Germans into the Ukrainian Insurgent Army known for mass killings of civilians. Nationalists planned to win Ukraine with support from Germans and physically eliminate all non-Ukrainians. Their slogan was “Ukraine only for Ukrainians”.

UIA groups fought against Soviet partisans and Polish underground resistance organization members in 1943-44. When the Soviet rule was restored in Ukraine, the UIA organized attacks against Soviet servicemen, law-enforcement authorities, Soviet officials and others who came from the “east”.