May Day

There's a common bit of graffiti you often see around Russia - a swastika that has been circled and crossed out or written over. Unfortunately it's not a negation, just an indication that the two forces are locked in a low level propaganda war. Occasionally you hear about fights or beatings, nationalist skinheads taking on anti-fascist youth groups. Rarely do you get to see these emotions and sentiments in the street - unless, of course, there is a public parade chaperoned by hundreds of riot officers. Like on May Day.

Soon after waking up, I opened my window and almost immediately heard chanting and marching bands coming from the direction of Nevsky Prospekt. I headed over, enjoyed myself despite the weather. The flags made for nice blotches of color on a gray morning and it's rare that you get to see giant portraits of Stalin in public:

(Brought to you by the Movement of Stalinists, really)

All the major political parties were there - United Russia, A Just Russia, the Liberal Democrats. And of course the Communists, which sounds sexy to outsiders but is often a parade of the elderly.

The fun got started with a group that may have been the outlawed National Bolshevik Party, (at least by matching their symbols to those on this site). I don't remember which slogans they were chanting, I was too terrified by their flags - the incredibly imposing black hammer and sickle, and a white circle on a red background containing a grenade (sorry if you can't see that because of the picture quality, but scroll down on the site above for copies).

They were soon followed by an anti-fascist bloc who carried signs saying "Freedom. Equality. Solidarity" and "Against Racism." They tended to be young and often had their faces covered by scarves or masks.

And pulling up the rear there was the Russian Imperialist Movement, which I believe is a small Orthodox political party advocating the reunification of "historically" Russian lands under the banner of the Russian Empire. They may be associated with the small monarchist parties. They were chanting "Россия - русская власть!" or "Russia means (ethnic) Russian power!" They had two other signs, one which said "Russians are getting fewer, immigrants are becoming greater" and "Deportation, not legalization." Next stop Arizona. Their site is down, but there's a cached version here.