Rada deputy supports Ukrainians opposing the demolition of monuments

More and more Ukrainian citizens support those who oppose the demolition of monuments and renaming of cities. This was stated on December 15 by the former co-chairman of the Ukrainian party "Opposition Platform - For Life" (OPZZh), Verkhovna Rada deputy Yuriy Boyko.

"A few years ago we witnessed the demolition of monuments to Columbus in America itself. It seems that our radicals took the same course and started tearing down monuments around the country, renaming cities, forbidding people to speak their native language, forbidding them to go to the church they want to go to. And today we see that this movement continues, that violence against people continues," the Ukrainian news and analysis website Strana.ua published Boyko's words.

According to the MP, more and more people are in favor of unity in the country and against such actions.

Earlier, on December 8, in Ukraine at the entrance to Pavlograd demolished the Soviet tank-monument IS-2, dedicated to the Soviet designer Joseph Kotin. It is noted that in order to remove the tank weighing 50 tons, had to bring a special crane from Dnipro (until 2016 was named Dnipropetrovsk).

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.