List of communist monuments in Ukraine
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File:Euromaidan in Kyiv early afternoon 2013-09-12 (088).JPG in Kyiv, pulled down by demonstrators on December 8, 2013]]
File:Destructed Lenin monument Kharkiv 2.JPG, 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.{{cite news |url=http://pda.pravda.com.ua/news/id_7068453/ |title=Laws discommunization and status OUN and UPA published in "Holos Ukrayiny" |language=Ukrainian |work=Ukrayinska Pravda |date=20 May 2015}} This law mandated the monuments to be removed within a six months period that started on 15 May 2015.[http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2015/05/15/7068057/ Poroshenko signed the laws about decomunization]. Ukrayinska Pravda. 15 May 2015
[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/265988.html Poroshenko signs laws on denouncing Communist, Nazi regimes], Interfax-Ukraine. 15 May 20
[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32267075 Goodbye, Lenin: Ukraine moves to ban communist symbols], BBC News (14 April 2015)
Since Ukrainian independence in 1991, communist monuments were already being removed[http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-287098.html Ukraine to remove 10 Soviet-era monuments], UNIAN (28-11-2008) and until 2014 new ones were also erected.[http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-312409.html Two Lenin monuments opened in Luhansk Oblast], UNIAN (April 22, 2008) In the aftermath of the 2013–2014 Euromaidan protests many of them were 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.
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.{{cite news |last1=Harding |authorlink1=Luke Harding |first1=Luke |title=Back in the USSR: Lenin statues and Soviet flags reappear in Russian-controlled cities |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/23/back-in-the-ussr-lenin-statues-and-soviet-flags-reappear-in-russian-controlled-cities |access-date=4 May 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=23 April 2022 |archive-date=4 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504233450/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/23/back-in-the-ussr-lenin-statues-and-soviet-flags-reappear-in-russian-controlled-cities |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Fink |first1=Andrew |title=Lenin Returns to Ukraine |url=https://thedispatch.com/p/lenin-returns-to-ukraine |access-date=4 May 2022 |work=The Dispatch |date=20 April 2022 |archive-date=23 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423185553/https://thedispatch.com/p/lenin-returns-to-ukraine |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Bowman |first1=Verity |title=Kyiv pulls down Soviet-era monument symbolising Russian-Ukrainian friendship |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/04/27/kyiv-pulls-soviet-era-monument-symbolising-russian-ukrainian/ |access-date=4 May 2022 |work=The Telegraph |date=27 April 2022 |archive-date=27 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220427204034/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/04/27/kyiv-pulls-soviet-era-monument-symbolising-russian-ukrainian/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Trofimov |first1=Yaroslav |authorlink1=Yaroslav Trofimov |title=Russia's Occupation of Southern Ukraine Hardens, With Rubles, Russian Schools and Lenin Statues |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/russias-occupation-of-southern-ukraine-hardens-with-rubles-russian-schools-and-lenin-statues-11651403176 |access-date=4 May 2022 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=1 May 2022 |archive-date=3 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503233746/https://www.wsj.com/articles/russias-occupation-of-southern-ukraine-hardens-with-rubles-russian-schools-and-lenin-statues-11651403176 |url-status=live }}
Outlawing of communist monuments
{{main|Fall of the monument to Lenin in Kyiv|Decommunization in Ukraine}}
=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.http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/western-information-agency-first-lady-calls-to-pul-50208.html , Kyiv Post (October 7, 2009)
=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.{{cite web|url=http://tsn.ua/ukrayina/leninopad-trivaye-vozhdya-skinuli-v-kanevi-mikolayevi-hersoni-336067.html|title=Ленінопад триває: вождя скинули в Каневі, Миколаєві, Херсоні|date=22 February 2014}} In other cities and towns, monuments were removed by organised heavy equipment and transported to scrapyards or dumps.{{cite news|url=http://www.radiosvoboda.org/content/article/25225395.html|title=В Україні – Ленінопад: пам'ятники вождю падають один за одним|newspaper=Радіо Свобода |date=10 January 2014 |last1=Середа |first1=Софія }}
By February 25, 2014, an estimate ran of over 90 statues and monuments being pulled down, removed or relocated.{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/24/leninopad-falling-lenins-statues-ukraine_n_4847364.html|title=Good Bye, Lenin! Protesters Topple Soviet Statues Across Ukraine|website=HuffPost|date=24 February 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://expres.ua/digest/2014/02/24/102431-leninopad-komunistychnogo-vozhdya-zvilneno-vzhe-90-mist-ukrayiny |title=Ленінопад: від комуністичного вождя звільнено вже 90 міст України {{!}} Експрес - онлайн |website=expres.ua |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140224085700/http://www.expres.ua/digest/2014/02/24/102431-leninopad-komunistychnogo-vozhdya-zvilneno-vzhe-90-mist-ukrayiny |archive-date=2014-02-24}} 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|date=November 2020}}
- Pulled down:
- Kyiv: a statue of Lenin stood in front of Bessarabskyi Market. It had been erected in 1946. On June 30, 2009, the nose of the statue and part of the left hand were destroyed.[http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/16379/ Vandals damage monument to Lenin in downtown Kyiv], Interfax-Ukraine (June 30, 2009)[http://photo.unian.net/eng/themes/13469 Photos; Events by themes: In Kyiv injured a monument to Lenin], UNIAN (June 30, 2009)[http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-323901.html Monument to Lenin is damaged in Kyiv], UNIAN (July 1, 2009) The statue was restored (at the expense of the Communist Party of Ukraine){{in lang|uk}} [http://photo.unian.net/ukr/themes/15577 Події за темами: У Києві облили фарбою пам’ятник Леніну під час його відкриття після реставрації], UNIAN (November 27, 2009) and re-unveiled on November 27, 2009, by Petro Symonenko, leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine. During this ceremony two representatives of Svoboda threw a bottle of red paint at the monument,[http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-349133.html Monument to Lenin was opened with scandal], UNIAN (November 27, 2009[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/city/detail/53774/ Police detain two persons who threw bottle of paint at Lenin monument in Kyiv], Kyiv Post (November 27, 2009) who were then attacked by attending Communists. The fall of the monument to Lenin in Kyiv took place on December 8, 2013.{{Cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/ukraine-lenin-idUKL6N0JN0IU20131208|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108004217/http://uk.reuters.com/article/ukraine-lenin-idUKL6N0JN0IU20131208|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 8, 2016|title = Ukrainian protesters topple Lenin statue in Kiev|newspaper = Reuters|date = 8 December 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,114912,15054103,Ukraincy_wciaz_protestuja__Kolejny_dzien_manifestacji.html#MT |title=Ławrow: Zachód nadal wywiera nacisk na Ukrainę |language=pl |publisher=Wiadomosci.gazeta.pl |date= |access-date=2022-03-16}}
- Andriievo-Ivanove (Odesa Oblast): Lenin statue was broken in half on January 4, 2014.{{cite web |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/police-one-more-lenin-statue-broken-in-odesa-region-334671.html |title=Police: One more Lenin statue broken in Odesa region |date = 4 January 2014}}
- Zhytomyr and Boiarka: Lenin statues were toppled by protesters on February 20, 2014.[http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2014/02/21/7015377/ This night in Ukraine 'Leninopad'], Ukrayinska Pravda (February 20, 2014)
- Khmelnytskyi: Lenin statue was mounted from 1970 to 1992. It was designed by E. Kuntsevych, architects — O. Ihnashchenko, Ye. Perekrest. It has been relocated to the park of Culture and Recreation. On February 21, 2014, it was destroyed.[http://ye.ua/news/news_15327.html Паламарчук В. У парку повалили пам’ятник Леніну (ВІДЕО + ОНОВЛЮЄТЬСЯ) // Є!. - February 21, 2014]
- tens of other locations
- Removed:
- Kyiv - on 26 August 1991 the executive committee of Kyiv voted to remove all the monuments of "Communist heroes" from public places, including the Lenin monument on the central October Revolution Square (now named Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square)).[http://www.ukrweekly.com/old/archive/1991/359102.shtml Historic vote for independence] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323105403/http://www.ukrweekly.com/old/archive/1991/359102.shtml |date=2014-03-23 }}, The Ukrainian Weekly (1 September 1991)
- Lviv, the Lenin statue was mounted from 1952 to 1990. It was designed by Sergey Merkurov, architect — I.O.Frantsuz.
- Dnipro, 2 Lenin monuments were removed by the city in 2014; in March 2014 the city's Lenin Square was renamed "Heroes of Independence Square" in honor of the people killed during Euromaidan.[https://web.archive.org/web/20140228113118/http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/ukraine-day-after_783577.html Ukraine: the Day After][https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/03/14/ukraine-crimea-referendum/6319183/ In East Ukraine, fear of Putin, anger at Kiev] The statue of Lenin on the square was removed.[http://tsn.ua/ukrayina/sche-odnogo-lenyna-zvalili-v-dnypropetrovsku-363832.html Пам'ятник Леніну у Дніпропетровську остаточно перетворили в купу каміння "Monument to Lenin in Dnipropetrovsk finally turned into a pile of stones"] In June 2014 another Lenin monument was removed (parts of the monument were moved to a local history museum) and replaced by a monument for the Ukrainian military fighting against armed insurgents in the Donbas (region of Ukraine){{cite web|url=https://sg.news.yahoo.com/video/lenin-statue-toppled-ukrainian-city-164726860.html|title = Lenin Statue Toppled in Ukrainian City of Dnipropetrovsk| date=27 June 2014 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2014/06/27/7030344/|title = У Дніпропетровську демонтували черговий пам'ятник Леніну}}
- Zaporizhzhia - In March 2016, statues of Lenin, Felix Dzerzhinsky, Sergey Kirov and a Komsomol monument were removed or taken down. The statue overlooking the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station (formerly named Lenin Dam) was the largest remaining Lenin statue in Ukraine.{{citation|title = In pictures: Ukraine removes communist-era symbols|url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36396854|publisher = BBC News|author = Vitaly Shevchenko|date = 1 Jun 2016}}
- tens of other locations
- Relocated:
- Odesa, the Lenin statue was mounted in 1967 to 2006. It was designed by Matvey Manizer, О.М.Manizer, architects — I.Ye.Rozin, Yu.S.Lapin, М.М.Volkov. It was relocated to the park of Lenin's Komsomol.
- Sumy, the Lenin statue was mounted from 1982 to the early 2000s. It was designed by E.Kuntsevych, architects — O.Zavarov, I.Lanko. It has been relocated to the park at the city limits.
- tens of other locations
=Law that outlawed the monuments=
{{main|Decommunization in Ukraine}}
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.[http://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-purges-symbols-its-communist-past-321663 Ukraine Purges Symbols of Its Communist Past], Newsweek, (10 April 2015)[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/259775.html Rada bans Communist, Nazi propaganda in Ukraine], Interfax-Ukraine (9 April 2015) 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".[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32267075 Goodbye, Lenin: Ukraine moves to ban communist symbols], BBC News (14 April 2015) 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.
In 1991 Ukraine had 5,500 Lenin monuments. By December 2015, 1,300 Lenin monuments were still standing.[http://ukrainianweek.com/Society/154195 Out of Sight], The Ukrainian Week (28 December 2015) On 16 January 2017 the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance announced that 1,320 Lenin monuments were dismantled during decommunization.{{in lang|uk}} [http://pda.pravda.com.ua/news/id_7132563 Dekomunizuvaly monuments to Lenin in 1320, Bandera set 4], Ukrayinska Pravda (16 January 2017)
{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.memory.gov.ua/news/z-50-tisyach-pereimenovanikh-obektiv-toponimiki-lishe-34-buli-nazvani-na-chest-banderi WITH 50 THOUSAND RENAMED OBJECTS PLACE NAMES, ONLY 34 ARE NAMED AFTER BANDERA], Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance (16 January 2017)
See also
References
{{reflist|35em}}
External links
{{Commons category|Communist monuments and memorials built in the Ukrainian SSR}}
- [http://www.monulent.ru/ Monuments of Lenin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130917150907/http://monulent.ru/ |date=2013-09-17 }}
- [http://leninstatues.ru/leninopad Leninopad list]
- [http://infolight.org.ua/thememap/leninopad Leninopad interactive map]
Category:Cultural depictions of Karl Marx
Category:Cultural depictions of Vladimir Lenin
Category:Cultural depictions of Joseph Stalin