List of communist monuments in Ukraine

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Destroyed monument of Lenin near Bessarabskyi Market in Kyiv, pulled down by demonstrators on December 8, 2013 Euromaidan in Kyiv early afternoon 2013-09-12 (088).JPG
Destroyed monument of Lenin near Bessarabskyi Market in Kyiv, pulled down by demonstrators on December 8, 2013
Destroyed monument of Lenin in Freedom Square, Kharkiv, pulled down by demonstrators on September 29, 2014 Destructed Lenin monument Kharkiv 2.JPG
Destroyed monument of Lenin in Freedom Square, Kharkiv, pulled down by demonstrators on September 29, 2014

In Ukraine, monuments to Lenin and other Soviet-era monuments have been made illegal by Ukrainian decommunization laws that came into force on 21 May 2015. [1] This law mandated the monuments to be removed within a six months period that started on 15 May 2015. [2]

Contents

Since Ukrainian independence (in 1991) communist monuments were already being removed [3] and until 2014 new monuments were also erected. [4] In the aftermath of the 2013–2014 Euromaidan protests many of them were recently toppled. On 15 May 2015, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed the bill into law that started a six months period for the removal of the communist monuments. [2]

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many of these communist statues, which had been taken down by Ukrainian activists, were re-erected by Russian occupiers in Russian-controlled areas. [5] [6] [7] [8]

Outlawing of communist monuments

Early attempts

On 6 October 2009, addressing participants of the Second Ecumenical Week held in Ukrainian Catholic University, then First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko called on all Ukrainians to pull down monuments to the Communist past. According to her, the Communist regime had been consistently active in destroying the Ukrainian church. "Having destroyed age-long belief in Christ, the Communists proposed their own idols instead; the culture and faith of Ukrainians was deformed and are in need of renovation", according to Kateryna Yushchenko. [9]

Pulling down of monuments

The removal or destruction of Lenin monuments and statues gained particular momentum during the Euromaidan movement in the beginning of 2014. Under the motto "Ленінопад" (Leninopad, translated into English as "Leninfall"), activists pulled down a dozen monuments in the Kyiv region, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, and elsewhere, or damaged them. [10] In other cities and towns, monuments were removed by organised heavy equipment and transported to scrapyards or dumps. [11]

By February 25, 2014, an estimate ran of over 90 statues and monuments being pulled down, removed or relocated. [12] [13] Since February 2014 and mid-April 2015, more than 500 statues of Lenin were dismantled in Ukraine, and nearly 1,700 were still standing.[ citation needed ]

Law that outlawed the monuments

On 9 April 2015 the Ukrainian parliament passed legislation, submitted by the Second Yatsenyuk Government, banning the promotion of symbols of “Communist and National Socialist totalitarian regimes” this means that be mid-2015 all communist monuments in Ukraine have to be removed. [32] [33] One of the main provisions of the bill was the recognition of the Soviet Union was "criminal" and one that it "pursued a state terror policy". [33] [34] On 15 May 2015 President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed the bill into law; starting a six months period for the removal of the communist monuments. [2]

In 1991 Ukraine had 5,500 Lenin monuments. [35] By December 2015, 1,300 Lenin monuments were still standing. [35] On 16 January 2017 the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance announced that 1,320 Lenin monuments were dismantled during decommunization. [36]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Laws discommunization and status OUN and UPA published in "Holos Ukrayiny"". Ukrayinska Pravda (in Ukrainian). 20 May 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Poroshenko signed the laws about decomunization. Ukrayinska Pravda. 15 May 2015
    Poroshenko signs laws on denouncing Communist, Nazi regimes, Interfax-Ukraine. 15 May 20
    Goodbye, Lenin: Ukraine moves to ban communist symbols, BBC News (14 April 2015)
  3. ↑ Ukraine to remove 10 Soviet-era monuments, UNIAN (28-11-2008)
  4. ↑ Two Lenin monuments opened in Luhansk Oblast, UNIAN (April 22, 2008)
  5. ↑ Harding, Luke (23 April 2022). "Back in the USSR: Lenin statues and Soviet flags reappear in Russian-controlled cities". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  6. ↑ Fink, Andrew (20 April 2022). "Lenin Returns to Ukraine". The Dispatch . Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  7. ↑ Bowman, Verity (27 April 2022). "Kyiv pulls down Soviet-era monument symbolising Russian-Ukrainian friendship". The Telegraph . Archived from the original on 27 April 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  8. ↑ Trofimov, Yaroslav (1 May 2022). "Russia's Occupation of Southern Ukraine Hardens, With Rubles, Russian Schools and Lenin Statues". The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on 3 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  9. ↑ http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/western-information-agency-first-lady-calls-to-pul-50208.html , Kyiv Post (October 7, 2009)
  10. ↑ "Ленінопад триває: вождя скинули в Каневі, Миколаєві, Херсоні". 22 February 2014.
  11. ↑ "В Україні – Ленінопад: пам'ятники вождю падають один за одним".
  12. ↑ "Good Bye, Lenin! Protesters Topple Soviet Statues Across Ukraine". HuffPost . 24 February 2014.
  13. ↑ "Ленінопад: від комуністичного вождя звільнено вже 90 міст України | Експрес - онлайн". expres.ua. Archived from the original on 2014-02-24.
  14. ↑ Vandals damage monument to Lenin in downtown Kyiv, Interfax-Ukraine (June 30, 2009)
  15. ↑ Photos; Events by themes: In Kyiv injured a monument to Lenin, UNIAN (June 30, 2009)
  16. ↑ Monument to Lenin is damaged in Kyiv, UNIAN (July 1, 2009)
  17. 1 2 (in Ukrainian) Події за темами: У Києві облили фарбою пам’ятник Леніну під час його відкриття після реставрації, UNIAN (November 27, 2009)
  18. ↑ Monument to Lenin was opened with scandal, UNIAN (November 27, 2009
  19. ↑ Police detain two persons who threw bottle of paint at Lenin monument in Kyiv, Kyiv Post (November 27, 2009)
  20. ↑ "Ukrainian protesters topple Lenin statue in Kiev". Reuters. 8 December 2013.
  21. ↑ "Ławrow: Zachód nadal wywiera nacisk na Ukrainę" (in Polish). Wiadomosci.gazeta.pl. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  22. ↑ "Police: One more Lenin statue broken in Odesa region". 4 January 2014.
  23. ↑ This night in Ukraine 'Leninopad', Ukrayinska Pravda (February 20, 2014)
  24. ↑ Паламарчук В. У парку повалили пам’ятник Леніну (ВІДЕО + ОНОВЛЮЄТЬСЯ) // Є!. - February 21, 2014
  25. ↑ Historic vote for independence, The Ukrainian Weekly (1 September 1991)
  26. ↑ Ukraine: the Day After
  27. 1 2 In East Ukraine, fear of Putin, anger at Kiev
  28. ↑ Пам'ятник Леніну у Дніпропетровську остаточно перетворили в купу каміння "Monument to Lenin in Dnipropetrovsk finally turned into a pile of stones"
  29. ↑ "Lenin Statue Toppled in Ukrainian City of Dnipropetrovsk".
  30. ↑ "У Дніпропетровську демонтували черговий пам'ятник Леніну".
  31. 1 2 Vitaly Shevchenko (1 Jun 2016), In pictures: Ukraine removes communist-era symbols, BBC News
  32. ↑ Ukraine Purges Symbols of Its Communist Past, Newsweek, (10 April 2015)
  33. 1 2 Rada bans Communist, Nazi propaganda in Ukraine, Interfax-Ukraine (9 April 2015)
  34. ↑ Goodbye, Lenin: Ukraine moves to ban communist symbols, BBC News (14 April 2015)
  35. 1 2 Out of Sight, The Ukrainian Week (28 December 2015)
  36. ↑ (in Ukrainian) Dekomunizuvaly monuments to Lenin in 1320, Bandera set 4, Ukrayinska Pravda (16 January 2017)
    (in Ukrainian) WITH 50 THOUSAND RENAMED OBJECTS PLACE NAMES, ONLY 34 ARE NAMED AFTER BANDERA, Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance (16 January 2017)
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