MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The event began at 2:00 p.m. [13:00 GMT] and is expected to draw 50,000 participants, according to Ewa Gawor, director of the city’s security and crisis management office.
The rally has been held annually since 2008. It coincides with the anniversary of the declaration of Polish independence in 1918, after over a century of being divided between Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia.
In 2014, radical groups such as Radical Camp and the All-Polish Youth took part in the march that sparked unrest in the city as flares and firecrackers were thrown at riot police who responded with water cannons.
This led to what was the fourth consecutive year that the march had become violent, ending in the arrest of at least 276 people and 50 people sustaining injuries, according to local law enforcement agencies.
