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 south-eastern 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: ​&#