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Nationalists Granted Permission to March on Unity Day in Moscow

The nationalist organization spearheading Moscow's annual "Russian March" on National Unity Day has received the city's blessing to hold the event, Interfax reported Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Dmitry Dyomushkin, leader of a nationalist organization known simply as "Russians," said the organizers of the Nov. 4 event had submitted numerous request to Moscow City Hall, offering up some 10 potential routes for the march. City authorities had declined their requests, citing organizers' inability to choose a single route as the reason behind their refusal.

Although city authorities granted the organization the right to hold the march with a maximum of 10,000 participants, they have forbidden the organizers from staging a concert or protest at the end of the march, as had been the case in last year's iteration, Interfax reported.

The march, traditionally held under slogans such as "Russia for Russians," will be held in the southeastern neighborhood of Lyublino, which is home to a large number of migrant workers from Central Asia.

On Tuesday, the head of Russia's Federation of Migrants warned the country's non-Russians to exercise caution on National Unity Day, given the proliferation of nationalist-themed marches in large cities across the country.

National Unity Day, which has been a public holiday since 2005, commemorates Russia's defeat of Polish invaders in 1612.

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