Donetsk, May 11 - DAN. Some 50,000 DPR residents took part in the Republic Day march in Donetsk on Thursday on the occasion of the 3rd anniversary of DPR establishment.
The march started from Lenin Square in central Donetsk. It will proceed along Artyoma Street to the republic’s Olympic Sport Centre where a concert is planned featuring Russian celebrities.
Some 100 Night Wolves Club bikers and the wind band of the city’s Philharmonic Society are leading the march.
It is followed by a column headed by acting Donetsk administration head Alexey Kulemzin, delegations from DPR towns and districts, and activists of Donetsk Republic and Young Republic public organisations. The participants are carrying DPR flags and flowers.
DPR head Alexander Zakharchenko, People’s Council chairman Denis Pushilin and guests from Russia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia and LPR are on the platform on Lenin Square greeting the marchers.
Simultaneously with the march, DPR Trade Union Federation is holding a rally on Donetsk’s main square. Some 4,000 people hold posters reading “unity is our strength,” “we’ll win,” “trade unions are the Republic’s power.” They later plan to join the march.
Central Donetsk is closed to traffic due to ongoing celebrations. Some 700 police officers are watching law and order, and ambulances and Emergencies Ministry teams are on standby in public places.
DPR celebrates Republic Day on 11 May. It commemorates the DPR independence referendum held three years ago. Back then, more than 75 percent of Ukraine’s Donetsk Region took part in the plebiscite. Nearly 90 percent of voters supported Donbass sovereignty.*jk