Extreme nationalists beat the protesters, who tried to confront them at the nationalists rally marking National Unity Day in St. Petersburg, with the Russian Empire's black-yellow-white flags in the background. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Dmitry Lovetsky)

MOSCOW - Thousands of people are taking part in Moscow street rallies on a new national holiday that the Kremlin is portraying as a celebration of Russia's ethnic diversity.

The Kremlin introduced National Unity Day in 2005 to replace the traditional Nov. 7 celebration of the 1917 Revolution that brought the Bolsheviks to power.

The holiday was initially seized upon by extreme nationalists, as well as by Russian Orthodox Christian fundamentalists and monarchists.

This year the Kremlin has made a push for tolerance and inclusiveness.

Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist leaders joined the Orthodox patriarch for a ceremony near Red Square on Wednesday. Members of a pro-Kremlin youth group wore red ponchos with the words "Everyone Is Ours," in the sense that no one is a foreigner.