You're reading: RFE/RL: Thousands rally for Gay Pride in Kyiv, amid massive police presence

RFE/RL: Thousands rally for Gay Pride in Kyiv, amid massive police presence

Published June 18, 2017 at 3:19 pm

Participants wave the gay rights movement's rainbow flags in central Kyiv during the LGBT Equality march on June 18. More than two thousand people took part in Kyiv's gay pride event amid a heavy police presence as nationalist protesters tried to halt the event and burned a rainbow flag. Participants walked through the city centre, waving the gay rights movement's rainbow flags protected from counter-protesters by lines of Ukrainian police and National Guard.

Photo by AFP

Thousands of gay-rights activists marched in a pride rally in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, on June 18 amid a massive police presence.

According to police, some 2,500 people gathered for the March of Equality in the center of Kyiv, which started near Taras Shevchenko Park and lasted for more than one hour. An estimated 5,500 officers ensured that the event proceeded without disturbance.