12.05.2017, DPR.
Thousands of residents of all cities and regions of the Donetsk People’s Republic (the DPR) took part in a mass procession in celebration of the third anniversary of creation of the Republic, Rossa Primavera News Agency correspondent reports on 11 May from the scene. The parade was led off by “Night Wolves” biker’s club headed by Aleksandr “Surgeon” Zaldostanov. Then columns of people from every district of Donetsk and delegates from all the cities and regions of the DPR marched through the city’s central street. Employees of higher education and medical institutions, culture professionals, social organization activists, miners, plant workers, and other workers participated in the procession.
People carried banners that said “Happy Birthday, Republic!”, “Donbass for Freedom to!” , “Let’s revive Donbass together”, “Onwards, to new labor deeds!”, and others. All economy sectors of the regions were represented, cultural richness and multinationalism of the region was stressed during the event. According to official data, about 50 thousand of Republic’s citizens took part in the celebration. The column started moving from the central Lenin square, where a speaker’s stand was set up, through Artyoma Street towards “Olympiyskyi” sports complex where a concert of famous Russian artists was held.
The columns from Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkovka, Artemovsk, Krasny Liman, and Mariupol, which are currently under the Ukrainian forces’ control, also took part in the parade.
The members of DPR government, delegations from the LPR, Russian Federation, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia, representatives from Italy and other European countries attended the celebration.
May 11 is the state Republic’s Day holiday in the DPR and LPR which celebrates the republics’ independence referendum held date back in 2014. The referendum was a reaction of citizens of Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine to the unconstitutional coup in Kiev in February of 2014.
* Photos by “Essence of Time” unit in Donbass.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
