National Unity Day was held in Moscow (2008)

On November 4, 2008, rallies and processions were held in various cities of Russia, timed to coincide with the celebration of National Unity Day, organized by right-wing radical groups and united under the name "Russian March". The largest event was held in Moscow.

Several applications have traditionally been submitted for holding events called "Russian March". This year, the situation was complicated by the split of the DPNI and, accordingly, the coalition to organize a nationalist march. As a result of the conflict, neither side was willing to join the competing groups.

As a result, official permission for the procession was given to only one applicant - the coalition of the "People's Union" and the adjoining group of the magazine "Russian Obraz". DPNI (A.Belova-V.Basmanova) and Russian DPNI (A.Kanurina) announced that they would hold their events regardless of the presence of the sanction of the Moscow authorities.

The procession of the "People's Union", as in 2007 , took place on the Taras Shevchenko embankment. Officially, it was supposed to start at 11 am. However, the construction was actually completed by 12-30.

According to our estimates, the maximum number of participants in the event was from 700 to 800 people.

The event was attended by:

• people's union,
• The nationwide movement "Russian Union" (a group formed back in the mid-90s, and for a long time did not show signs of life)
• "Russian image",
• Russian Civil Society (A.Mikhailova),
• Union of Orthodox banner-bearers,
• Union of the Russian people N. Kuryanovich
• Union of Orthodox Citizens (represented by Valentin Lebedev)
• officers union,
• Union "Christian Revival" V. Osipov,
• National Unity Front "Imperial Union",
• Hardline Straight Edge ("black block"),
• Black Hundred.

According to an unofficial statement made on behalf of the leader of the Russian National Union Igor Artemov, RONS activists also took part in the procession.

In addition, football fans and "re-enactors" from several Moscow clubs in stylized costumes of Russian knights took part in the march.

The participants marched along the Taras Shevchenko embankment to the hotel "Ukraine", opposite which the rally took place.

The marchers, most of whom were Nazi skinheads, threw up their hands in a Nazi salute, shouted "Sieg heil!" and other xenophobic and obscene slogans. In the column of the "People's Union", among other things, they shouted "Zionists on the chopping block!". As the convoy passed a working construction site, the demonstrators shouted insulting slogans at the migrant workers.

were seen on poles along the path of the protesters' march. Stenciled graffiti "Let's cleanse Russia of Russians!" allegedly inflicted on behalf of a non-existent anti-fascist website and a website of Caucasian separatists.

At the rally in front of the hotel "Ukraine" the leaders of almost all the groups participating in the procession spoke: Sergei Baburin and Viktor Alksnis ("People's Union"), Dmitry Taratorin ("Russian Image"), Nikolai Kuryanovich (his branch of the RNC), Alexei Mikhailov ("Russian civil society"), Fr. Valentin _ _ _ _ Lebedev (SPG), Vladimir Kvachkov, who said that "Russia must free the world from the Jewish financial yoke" , Vladimir Osipov (SHV), Vladimir Filin ("Russian Union"), a certain "Kiev Cossack" Alexei Selivanov, Dmitry Merkulov (" Russian National Cultural Center" (a group that is part of the NRC L. Ivashov)).

Since the participants of the action had to pass through metal detectors, it is not clear how the "reenactors" in metal chain mail managed to get through. However, the police took away their swords.

At 12 noon, the event was scheduled to start, organized by the DPNI (A. Belova-V. Basmanova), the Slavic Union and their allies.

The gathering of participants began at the metro station "Arbatskaya" between 11:00 and 12:00. All of them were without symbols, so it was difficult to identify the organizations and groups that took part in this action. In the subway, police officers even took away Russian flags. Among those present, it was possible to identify representatives of the Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI), the "Slavic Union" (SS), the NPF "Pamyat", the "Union of the Russian People" (M. Nazarov), the Russian Social Movement (ROD), the Russian National Bolshevik Front ( RNBF). Later, the DPNI (A. Kanurina), alternative to Belovsky's "Russian", stated that the "power unit" of his asset also took part in the action on Arbatskaya. Among the participants was the leader of the "PEOPLE" Alexei Navalny. There is information about the participation of RONS activists in the action.

Those gathered gradually went out into the street, on their own or at the request of the police, and stopped near the exit of the subway. In total, at least 500 people got out of the metro, who tried to start the march - lined up in columns, began to chant "Glory to Russia", "Russians are coming" and threw up their hands in a Nazi salute. This was immediately stopped by the police officers, some people were detained, the rest went to the "Khudozhestvenny" cinema or crossed to the other side of the street. The passage to the lanes was closed, so they went to the center, someone threw a smoke bomb, and the riot police immediately dispersed the group. Sporadic detentions continued at Khudozhestvennoye (in all, apparently, about 30 people were detained there). Further, the participants in an unorganized column marched along the Old Arbat towards Smolenskaya metro station, chanting the slogans "Russia - Russian power", "Moscow for Muscovites" , etc. Detentions of participants continued along the entire route of the column. But since the passage to the lanes was open, some Nazi skinhead groups probably went there.

At the Smolenskaya metro station, at the very end of the Arbat, the riot police cut the column into three parts. The blocked central part tried to break through and was beaten by riot police. In total, at least 100 people were detained here.

Among those detained on the Arbat were the leader of the "Slavic Union" Dmitry Demushkin, the coordinator of the DPNI Vladimir Basmanov, the leader of the group "Russian order" Vladimir (Tor) Kralin, the head of the NPF "Pamyat" Georgy Borovikov. Right-wing radical resources claim that Alexander Belov, the leader of the DPNI, was later detained.

Some participants still managed to get to the monument to Minin and Pozharsky and lay flowers as planned.

The third "Russian March" was planned by the "Russian DPNI" (A. Kanurin, Yu. Gorsky) as a flash mob in the Moscow metro. On October 1, at a press conference, the organizing committee of the event, which included 5 organizations (Russian DPNI, NDPR, MANPADS "Rus", the movement "Slavyanka" and a certain anonymous "Union of National Socialists") announced that they were calling to celebrate the holiday with an action in metro. Later there were reports that from 12 to 13-00 it is planned to ride counterclockwise along the ring line, with a rally at 13-00 on the "Kievskaya-ring" or, in case of its blocking - on the "Kurskaya-ring".

By the appointed time, several policemen and several people with cameras were walking along the platform of the Kyiv metro station. At five minutes after two, Alexey Kanurin appeared, accompanied by several people, and a few minutes later it turned out that the event would still be on Kurskaya.

There was also no one there, except for a dozen people who looked like Nazi skinheads. After some waiting around 13:30 it was said that the event was over. Later it turned out that one of the organizers Yu.Gorsky still managed to speak at the Kurskaya metro station practically in the absence of listeners, after which he was detained by the police.

In addition, there were reports that another, fourth attempt to march was made - a column of about 200 people was moving towards the metro station "Park Kultury", but was dispersed by the police. Unfortunately, we do not know anything about this procession.

In addition to events under the brand "Russian March", Oleg Kassin's "People's Cathedral" intended to hold his action. A group of Orthodox believers intended to repeat last year's procession in honor of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God along the Boulevard Ring of Moscow. The procession began from metro station Pushkinskaya. Initially, about 250 people took part in the procession, then the number of participants increased due to those who came from the Shevchenko embankment and from the Alexander Garden. Among those present were representatives of the movements "People's Cathedral", the Union of the Russian People (M. Nazarova), individual activists of the Moscow RNE, "Georgiyevtsy", "Slavic Union" (all without their own symbols), several obviously hostile Cossack organizations.

Just a few minutes after the believers walked along Tverskoy Boulevard to the singing of akathists and the reading of prayers, the riot police blocked the path of the column. The procession participants, and with them bystanders, were actually blocked on the boulevard between the Moscow Art Theater and the Theater. Pushkin.

The standoff lasted over an hour. The believers did not stop praying. At the same time, some of them denounced the "Jewish authorities" and urged (unsuccessfully) law enforcement officers to join them or at least let them through.

As a result, most of the participants in the procession returned to Pushkinskaya Square, but a small group, after the riot police left, managed to continue the procession and reach the Kremlin, where some of them were detained and the procession stopped. Among the detainees were RNC leader M. Nazarov, vice-president of the Borodino-2012 public organization, deputy of the Moscow Regional Duma Gennady Salnikov, poet and newsletter publisher Andrei Arkharov, and about 15 other people. But a few people walked around the Boulevard Ring in the evening.

At the end of the Day of National Unity, a rally-concert "I am Russian" was held, organized by the Young Guard of United Russia. The day before, right-wing radical websites called for people to come to this concert, regardless of belonging to one or another "Russian March", since the concert was planned to be attended by at least one group popular among the ultra-right - "Ivan Tsarevich". The concert was supposed, according to the intention of the authors of the appeals, to show the total number of participants in disparate nationalist events. However, the Nazi skinheads did not come to the concert.

Throughout the day, both at unauthorized events and, apparently, outside of them, the police detained Nazi skinheads and other nationalists throughout Moscow. In total, according to law enforcement agencies, on November 4, about 500 people were detained in Moscow.

Own inf.

Based on materials from right-wing radical sites

Photo reports about the events:

Galina Kozhevnikova. Photo reports from the T. Shevchenko embankment and the religious procession on Tverskoy .

SOVA Center. Photo report from T. Shevchenko embankment .

Natalia Yudina. Photo report from metro station "Arbatskaya" .

Alexander Verkhovsky. Photo reports from the Arbat and from the procession on Tverskoy .