A trident was installed on the “Rodyna Mat” monument in Kyiv instead of the coat of arms of the USSR

In the center of Kyiv on Sunday, a trident – the official symbol of Ukraine – was installed on the shield of the Motherland monument. It replaced the previously dismantled coat of arms of the USSR, the Ukrainian Service of Radio Liberty reports.

“It happened. The Ukrainian trident is in its place. It was a complex, responsible, historical project. Thank you to everyone who made it happen – sponsors, designers, builders, sculptors, and employees of the War Museum,” the ex-Minister of Culture wrote on the Telegram channel Oleksandr Tkachenko of Ukraine.

The coat of arms of Ukraine began to be installed on the Motherland monument on August 5. On that day, the trident was raised to the first level – 24 meters. Dismantling work continued since the end of July.

The monument is located on the territory of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War. It was built in 1981 and is considered the tallest sculpture in Europe. On the occasion of the country’s Independence Day, it is planned to rename it to “Mother Ukraine”. The coat of arms of the USSR will be sent to a museum for storage.

The monument did not fall under the laws on de-Sovietization adopted in Ukraine, many residents of Kyiv perceive it not as a monument of Soviet times, but as one of the symbols of the city. However, after the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, a survey was conducted on the possibility of replacing the Soviet symbols with Ukrainian ones. 85% of the 780,000 survey participants voted for replacing the coat of arms on the shield. The Ministry of Culture approved this amendment.