Thousands of Ukrainians march against a troop pullback

Kiev: Thousands of Ukrainians marched in Kiev on Monday, decrying as “capitulation” a mooted pullback of troops fighting Moscow-backed separatists in the east and calling for victory in the five-year war.
The protesters, many veterans of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, paraded through the centre of the capital with flares burning, singing the national anthem and chanting slogans against President Volodymyr Zelensky.
It was the second of two marches in Kiev on Monday, a national holiday designated “Defenders Day”. Demonstrators later gathered on Kiev’s Independence Square.
October 14 also marks the anniversary of the foundation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a group of nationalists who fought against Soviet troops in World War II alongside Nazi forces, and are accused of slaughtering Poles and Jews.
Nationalist forces traditionally hold marches on this day, including supporters of the Svoboda party.
Police said abound 12,000 people participated in the march, and some 6,000 in the earlier event.