Workers dismantle the Soviet monument to Ukraine-Russia friendship in Kyiv on April 26, 2022, amid Russian invasion of Ukraine. 聽AFP FILE PHOTO
碍驰滨痴鈥�Kyiv Saturday renamed an iconic Soviet-era arch symbolising ties with Moscow to 鈥淎rch of the Freedom of the Ukrainian People鈥�, the mayor said.
The symbolic move comes after the city demolished a statue of two workers 鈥� one Russian and the other Ukrainian 鈥� under the arch last month.
鈥淭he city council today decided to 鈥榙e-communise鈥� the name of the Arch of the Friendship of the Peoples. It will now be the Arch of the Freedom of the Ukrainian People,鈥� the capital鈥檚 mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.
He said officials had also 鈥渁pproved a list of more than 40 monuments and memorial plaques that will have to be removed from streets and buildings of the capital and transferred to a museum of totalitarianism.鈥�
He said renaming them all would take time and involve 鈥渟pecialists鈥�, mainly historians, 鈥渟o as not to take a hasty decision鈥�.
The arch is an imposing 35-meter-high monument that towers over central Kyiv. It was erected in 1982.
Many Kyiv residents have called for plaques across the city linked to Russia and its ally Belarus to be replaced.
The Kyiv metro has held online surveys on how to rename stations.
Users have voted for the 鈥淢insk鈥� station to become 鈥淲arsaw鈥� station, and for the 鈥淟eo Tolstoy Square鈥� stop to instead celebrate Vassyl Stus, a Ukrainian dissident who died in the Soviet gulag.
RELATED STORIES
Putin tells Finland that swapping neutrality for Nato is a mistake
Large convoy from Mariupol reaches safety, refugees talk of 鈥榙evastating鈥� escape
Ukraine鈥檚 Zelensky: situation in Donbas region remains very difficult
Greece says ready to welcome Finland, Sweden in Nato