Ukraine demolishes Soviet tank monument dedicated to designer Kotin

A Soviet tank monument IS-2 dedicated to Soviet designer Josef Kotin has been demolished at the entrance to Pavlograd in Ukraine. About it on December 8 reports the Ukrainian edition "Strana.ua".

"In Pavlograd dismantled the Soviet tank, which stood at the entrance to the city. It was a monument including a native of Pavlograd, tank designer Joseph Kotin. He created a heavy tank IS-2, which stood on the pedestal", - stated in the message of the publication in Telegram-channel.

"Strana.ua" notes that in order to remove the tank weighing 50 tons, had to bring a special crane from Dnipro (until 2016 was called Dnipropetrovsk).

Earlier, on December 7, Irish journalist Chay Bose accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose term of office expired on May 20, of disrespecting his ancestors. According to the journalist, the demolition of monuments in Ukraine is Zelensky's tribute to those who exterminated Jews, Russians and Poles.

On December 5, Bose suggested that the reason for the demolition of monuments associated with the USSR or Russia is Ukrainians' fear of a shared cultural heritage with the Russian state.

Before that, on December 4, a bust of twice Hero of the USSR, partisan commander Sidor Kovpak, was dismantled in Kiev's Park of Glory. Sidor Kovpak was one of the leaders of the partisan movement in Ukraine and the RSFSR during the Great Patriotic War.

The policy of so-called decolonization was a continuation of decommunization in Ukraine, which began in 2015 as part of 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.