Fighting in Eastern Ukraine continues to spread to other cities in the region. During a holiday many Ukrainians would traditionally celebrate together, bloody clashes brought one city to a standstill and further pushed the beleaguered nation towards the possibility of civil war.

Reports continue to be contradictory, each side telling a different story. However, it is fact that Friday, May 9, saw fighting in the city of Mariupol. The city, which lies in the Donetsk region, saw fighting at the city's police department, according to the Telegraph. The government alleges that it fought off a pro-Russian attack on the city's police department killing an estimated 20 insurgents in the process. But, the local residents do not agree with this.

The police station's sizeable weapons armory was the insurgents' target, the government stated; however, local residents told the newspaper that the station was sympathetic with the pro-Russian forces, and it was the government's security troops that opened fire on the station. The casualty list announced by Interior Minister Arsen Avakov via social media is also in dispute. Nearby hospitals announced they only received five dead and 40 wounded, not the 20 dead reported by the minister.

The city of 500,000 has seen sporadic violence in the last couple of days, fighting for control of City Hall, which has exchanged hands between the government and pro-Russian forces twice. The Telegraph reported various unverified videos have appeared of the confrontation, depicting people standing in front of armored vehicles as well as spitting on the bodies of "traitors," government security troops. The English-language Kyiv Post also reported that "insurgents" have abducted the city's police chief, Valeriy Androshchuk.

In its list of daily updates, the Kyiv Post cited a local politician as the source. Oleh Liashko made the announcement through Facebook, claiming the police chief fought valiantly. "The fighters stabbed the jeep driver with a knife and placed Androshchuk inside the car trunk and drove off in an unknown direction," he wrote.

As the animosity within Eastern Ukraine escalates, Russia decided to commemorate the holiday with a grand show. May 9 is celebrated in both nations as Victory Day, when the Soviet Union defeated Nazi Germany. Though, since the fall of the USSR, Russia has not celebrated with the military bombast it did before, President Putin has resurrected the tradition.

Reuters reported a grand parade took place on Moscow's Red Square with thousands of troops and hundreds of armored vehicles and aircraft taking part. Russian state television called the parade the largest in 20 years, and Putin did not miss the chance to stir nationalist sentiment by claiming the rise of neo-fascists in Ukraine.

"The iron will of the Soviet people, their fearlessness and stamina saved Europe from slavery. It was our country which chased the Nazis to their lair, achieved their full and final destruction, won at the cost of millions of victims and terrible hardships," Putin said in a speech at Red Square.

To further highlight Russian nationalism as well as incite international unrest, Putin culminated the Victory Day celebrations by making a trip to the Crimean city of Sevastopol where the Black Sea Fleet is stationed. Banners read, "Sevastopol without fascists," and, "It's our duty to remember," according to Reuters, when Putin arrived in the Crimea. Many in the region are happy to have joined Russia, but the international community sees it as inappropriate for Putin to visit Crimea.

The U.S. State Department denounced Putin's actions in its daily press briefing, calling it inappropriate.

"Our view is that this trip is provocative and unnecessary. Crimea belongs to Ukraine, and we don't recognize, of course, the illegal and illegitimate steps by Russia in that regard," spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.