Nationalists rally in Kyiv and clash with police

Ukrainian nationalists have clashed with police in Kyiv at a demonstration around the Pechersk-Lavra monastery, the most important Russian Orthodox monastery the church has anywhere in the world. The nationalists assembled after pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk said they would use the sprawling site as a base to start their own uprising. “They have promised to declare a separatist Kyiv People’s Republic in the monastery complex. One of the separatist leaders in the Donetsk region has promised to launch an armed rebellion here in Kyiv. We say that no armed rebellion will happen here,” said one of the protesters. That seems highly unlikely to attract significant support as Kyiv is solidly behind the Maidan revolt. Some are seeing the Donetsk declaration as a provocation designed to get a response that could be used to justify further intervention by Russia.