Polish police used rubber bullets on Monday (November 11) to break up groups of masked far-right youths who threw firecrackers and set fire to cars when a nationalist march through the centre of the capital turned violent.

The march is an annual event to commemorate Poland's national independence day, and for the third year in a row it broke down into running battles in the middle of Warsaw between rioters and riot police.

Several thousand right-wing protesters began their march peacefully - watched by their own stewards in orange vests and with a police helicopter circling above.

The violence started when a few dozen youths, their faces covered by balaclavas and football scarves, broke off from the procession into a side street and started attacking a building where left-wing radicals occupied a squat.

Riot police moved in, and came under attack from youths throwing firecrackers and stones. As the rioters dispersed, several cars were set on fire.

When the march reached the Russian embassy - symbol for some Poles of repression during Soviet rule - a part of the crowd threw firecrackers towards the building, but riot police formed a cordon around the perimeter, and the crowd later moved on.

A rubbish bin inside the embassy compound was set on fire.

By night-fall, the flare-ups of violence were becoming less frequent and the marchers moved onward along their route, watched by police.