The mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, has ordered the demolition of a Soviet monument dedicated to the friendship between Russia and Ukraine, following the Russian army’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
The giant monument, which represented a Ukrainian and a Russian worker, was demolished.
“It took a lot of effort, but the Soviet sculpture of the two workers (symbol of the unification of Ukraine and Russia) was removed,” Klitschko said via the Telegram platform, noting that the demolition work took place on Tuesday.
What fell first was the head of the statue representing the Russian worker, he said. The symbolic snapshot was reproduced by Ukrainian media yesterday, Wednesday.
“We must expel the enemy, the Russian invader, from our country,” said the mayor of the Ukrainian capital.
“You are not killing your brother. You are not raping your sister. You are not destroying your friend’s country. “That’s why we demolished this monument, which was once built as a sign of friendship between Ukraine and Russia,” he said via Twitter.
It was part of a trio of works of art for the friendship of the two peoples, which was created and installed in 1982, noted the Russian news agency TASS.
At that time, Ukraine and Russia were part of the same state, they belonged to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
A cluster of red granite figures representing the unity of the two peoples will also be demolished. The only part of this ensemble that will remain intact is a huge titanium rainbow. It will be renamed the “Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian people”, according to Mr. Klitschko.
According to the mayor of the Ukrainian capital, about 60 monuments, reliefs and plaques associated with the Soviet Union or Russia will also be removed.
After the collapse of the USSR, the monuments to the leader of the Bolshevik revolution, Lenin, who founded the Soviet Union 100 years ago, in 1922, were removed or demolished in the newly established states, including Ukraine.
In addition to the removal of monuments, streets of Kiev are also renamed.
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