(VOVworld) – Clashes broke out Tuesday outside the Ukrainian Parliament office as deputies inside repeatedly voted down proposals to recognise certain members of the nationalist Svoboda Party as national heroes.

Ukrainian nationalist activists clash with riot police outside the parliament in Kiev. (Photo: AFP)

Earlier Svoboda supporters rallied to celebrate the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and some masked men threw smoke grenades at the police guarding the Ukrainian Parliament office. Svoboda said its members were not responsible for the unrest and urged the police to avoid violence. The Mariupol city government in eastern Ukraine said 7 civilians were killed and 17 injured during shelling in the city’s suburb. Military sources said 7 soldiers also died.  This was the first shelling since the Kiev government reached a cease-fire with opposition forces in eastern Ukraine on September 5.