kyiv, UKRAINEKiev municipal workers on Saturday dismantled the equestrian statue of a Red Army commander, one of several Soviet monuments removed from the streets of the Ukrainian capital since Russia launched its invasion last year.
The statue of Mykola Shchors, erected in the 1950s, was removed from its pedestal in the center of kyiv to the applause of a small group of spectators. Authorities said they will keep it in the State Aviation Museum.
“De-Russification and decommunization continue. “We have dismantled more than 60 monuments linked to the history and culture of Russia and the Soviet Union,” said Mykhailo Budilov, director of the city’s Territorial Control Department.
The campaign to remove Soviet-era symbols, which many Ukrainians consider representative of Russian imperialism, has accelerated since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
In August, authorities removed the hammer and sickle symbol from the statue of Mother Ukraine in kyiv and replaced it with the national shield with the trident.
On Saturday, a few dozen people gathered around the Shchors monument as workers lifted it from the pedestal with a crane.
Another resident, Oleksii Prokopets, said he favored removing Soviet monuments, but questioned whether it was worth pouring resources into it when Ukraine is trying to fend off the Russian invasion.
“I think this is not the time to spend money on removing them. They could wrap it in a black cloth and do it after the victory,” Prokopets said.
Source: AP
