RIA Novosti
/ Ramil Sitdikov
Countries
throughout the world are celebrating May Day, also referred to as International
Labor Day. In Russia, the holiday is marked in every big city. In the capital
alone, an estimated 120,000 people have shown up.
Russian
Trade Unions and the ruling United Russia party have been the first to march
along Moscow’s Tverskaya Street. According to police, 120,000 of their
supporters have shown up in the city center.
Outgoing
President Medvedev and President-elect Putin have joined the march in the
center of Moscow. This makes the event unique, as heads of state have
previously never participated in mass rallies alongside other activists.
The column
marched through the downtown area displaying the traditional slogans
"Peace! Labor! May" and "Peace to the world!"
Communists,
liberals and nationalists are set to hold separate marches. All in all some 20
separate events have been announced ahead of the holiday.
The
Communist Party has already started their march across central Moscow from
Kaluzhskaya Square to Theater Square. They pledged to gather some 5,000
supporters.
The Liberal
Democrats are planning a rally at Pushkin Square later on Tuesday, with 2,000
activists expected.
Nationalist
movements are to hold an event called “civic march” in the city’s west. The
Fair Russia party and Coalition of Left Forces are also expected to have their
own May Day meetings.
Moscow
police say they have some 8,500 officers keeping order on Moscow’s streets.
Similar
events are taking place throughout the country. Due to time differences, some
rallies in Russia’s Far East, Siberia and Urals have already finished.
About
220,000 people took to the streets in the Far East. The largest event was in
the city of Khabarovsk, with 40,000 turning out to march. The events in the
Sakhalin Region, however, were canceled due to heavy rain. In the city of
Ekaterinburg in the Urals, 30,000 people turned up. Regions to the west of
Moscow will join the holiday later in the day.
RT is
giving live updates on how the labor rallies unfold.
The spring holiday
is also marked in much of Europe. Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain and
Greece are also holding rallies.
In France,
May Day comes just five days before the second and decisive presidential round.
Media reports suggest leftists, rightist Union for a Popular Movement and
National Front are holding an indirect battle in the streets of the French
capital as they gather for rival rallies.
Massive
rallies are also planned in more than 100 US cities on Tuesday, as labor,
immigration and Occupy activists are set to gather in support of the
international workers' holiday.
Historically,
May 1st – International Workers' Day – came into being in memory of workers'
demonstrations that took place in Chicago in May 1886. May 1 is also recognized
in the US as Law Day.
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Dmitry
Medvedev (C), Vladimir Putin (2-R) and Sergey Sobyanin (L),
RIA Novosti /
Alexsey Druginyn
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RIA Novosti / Vladimir Pesnya
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