Rebels parade captured Ukrainian soldiers in streets of Donetsk

Armed pro-Russian rebels paraded dozens of captured Ukrainian soldiers through the streets of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Sunday afternoon, the rebel stronghold's counterprotest to Ukraine's Independence Day celebrations in other parts of the divided country.

A crowd of more than 1,000 people gathered to jeer and throw bottles at the prisoners, several of whom had bandaged heads and other wounds, calling them "fascists," "Nazis" and "traitors." The march started around 2 p.m. and lasted just a few minutes.

"The people came out to see the soldiers who had been shelling them around the clock, thanking the separatists for protecting them," said freelance journalist Maximilian Clarke, who witnessed the parade near Donetsk's Lenin Square. The rebels aren't foreigners who have invaded this city, he said. "The separatists here are locals; they are known here."