Pushkin and Shchors get ready: Soviet monuments are being dismantled in Kyiv
Since July 2023, more than 60 monuments related to the history and culture of Russia and the USSR have been dismantled in Kyiv. This was reported in the press service of the Kyiv city administration.
In the future, they plan to demolish 56 more objects, the list of which has already been agreed upon by the interdepartmental working group. Next are the monuments that are still included in the list of monuments of national importance.
“Monuments and memorial plaques representing the Soviet and imperial past have no place on the territory of the capital… We are conducting large-scale work to finally remove from public space all those objects that glorify the aggressor country… More are on the way to be removed six objects, among which are monuments that have the protection status of national significance, in particular, monuments to Pushkin, Shchors, the crew of the armored train “Taraschanets”, etc. These names are now in everyone’s ears, but we cannot dismantle them without the Government withdrawing their protective status“, said the deputy head of the KMDA Anna Starostenko.
| Dismantled bust of Pushkin in Kyiv. Photo: Public |
Starostenko also added that, together with experts, they have already appealed to the Ministry of Culture with a request to speed up the process of removing these monuments from the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Cultural Heritage.
De-Russification of the sights of the capital
In July, the Kyiv City Council adopted the regulation “On approval of the list of objects to be removed from the public space of the city of Kyiv.” The vast majority of monuments from this list were dismantled.
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| Communal workers remove the Soviet star from the monument on Halytskyi Square. Photo: Anna Serhiets/Society |
This decision is related to the law on the prohibition of propaganda of Russian imperial policy, which the President signed in April 2023. According to it, it is forbidden to manufacture, distribute and publicly use Soviet and Russian symbols.
However, some monuments for certain reasons still remain in the city. Recently, activists of the charity foundation “Solomyanski kotoky” covered one of the Pushkin monuments with a multi-colored “unmasking” net.
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| “Unmasked” Pushkin. Photo: “Solomyan cats” |
The monument to Alexander Pushkin is located in the Ivan Bagryany park in the Shevchenkiv district of Kyiv, which until July 2023 also bore the name of the Russian poet. Then the members of the organization tried to draw attention to the monument in order to demonstrate that de-Russification should be promoted more actively.
Also, two Soviet pedestals were deprived of their protective status this year. One of them is the obelisk of the Hero City of Kyiv on Halytskyi Square. The Soviet star on the 40-meter obelisk was demolished recently, on November 4.
Read also: The monument to the Soviet cosmonaut will move from Lviv Square to the “Museum of Terror”
