Heavily armed riot police foiled attempts by Russian nationalists to hold a banned march in Moscow on Saturday, making scores of arrests.
Far-right leaders had called for a "Russian March" through the capital and other big cities on Saturday's National Unity Day holiday to protest against illegal immigration and trumpet the supremacy of Russian traditions.
Authorities banned the marches in Moscow and most other cities, fearing a repeat of last year's scenes when neo-Nazis paraded through the capital chanting racist slogans. They allowed only smaller static meetings away from town centers.
"The situation is calm," Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov told reporters on Saturday afternoon. "We ... will not tolerate any chauvinism or fascism in Moscow."
In the largest nationalist demonstration in the Russian capital, around 2,000 far-right demonstrators gathered at the Devichye Pole park for an officially sanctioned meeting under the gaze of police in full body armor.
The nationalists waved old Tsarist flags and chanted "Glory to Russia" as a police helicopter buzzed overhead.
"I am for Russia and I want Russian people to walk with their head held high," Moscow demonstrator Olga Voitenko, 49, told Reuters. Like other protesters, she complained that illegal immigrants were stealing jobs and corrupting Russian society.
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