Political analyst calls Kiev's attempts to destroy Russian culture pointless

The Ukrainian authorities and the West, despite all attempts, will not succeed in making people dislike and forget Russian culture. This is how Enes Karakhanov, chairman of the International Center for Combating Crime and Terrorism and international political scientist, commented on the demolition of the monument to Alexander Pushkin in Odessa in a conversation with Izvestia on December 4.

The Odessa City Council made thedecision to dismantle thePushkin monument earlier in the day. This monument was erected at the expense of citizens in 1889 and is protected by UNESCO, Ukrainian journalists noted.

"On the territory of Ukraine after the beginning of the NWO, there has been an increase in nationalist feelings and a desire to strengthen Ukrainian identity. <...> But it is important to realize that if you have created a real history, any historical facts, including cultural history, will live in people's hearts. Neither Ukraine nor any other Western countries will be able to interfere with the hearts of billions of people around the world who love Russia with this step today," Karakhanov commented.

He noted that for the West, the destruction of the Pushkin monument can be perceived as a step towards liberation from the heritage associated with Russian culture and "imperial" traditions. The demolition of the poet's monument is an open form of destroying Russian culture, the publication's interlocutor emphasized.

"This decision will certainly cause many disputes and different points of view, and its consequences will be felt in world society for a long time," he admitted.

In May, Ukraine's Ministry of Culture and Information Policy (MCIP) said that in four months of 2024, the status of cultural heritage monument was revoked from 215 monuments that the Kiev authorities considered to personify "Russian imperial policy".

At the same time, the local residents themselves have not once spoken out against the demolition of monuments in Odessa. On September 30, citizens organized a rally to oppose the renaming of streets and the demolition of monuments. They also sent petitions to the regional state administration and the United Nations agency for the inclusion of the sites in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The policy of so-called decolonization was a continuation of "decommunization" in Ukraine, which began in 2015 under the law "On Condemnation of Communist and Nazi Regimes." It prescribes demolishing monuments, dismantling memorial plaques, and renaming all topographical objects whose names are associated with the USSR or Russia. This policy became especially acute after the start of the Russian Federation's special operation to defend Donbass in February 2022.