In the latest incident of decolonization and de-Russification in Ukraine, the central-Ukrainan city of Dnipro has dismantled a bust to Russian poet Aleksandr Pushkin and Soviet pioneer Volodia Dubinin, Hromadske reported.
Altogether, ten monuments will be taken down and stored until their fate is decided.
Pushkinfall
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian cities started decolonizing (de-Russifying) their public space. Streets are being renamed and monuments dedicated to Russian figures are being dismantled throughout the country. Most notably, monuments to Russian poet Pushkin are being shown the exit, as they are now viewed as colonial markers.
On April 7, the monument to Pushkin was dismantled in Mukachevo, and two days later – in Uzhhorod and Ternopil. Since then, monuments to Pushkin have been removed in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernivtsi, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, and other cities and towns.
“Pushkinfall” is a continuation of “Leninfall,” a process launched in Ukraine after the 2014 Euromaidan Revolution. Then, after making a symbolic swerve away from Russia and being attacked for that, Ukraine launched the process of decommunization, which saw thousands of toponyms dedicated to Soviet figures dethroned. The current Pushkinfall goes a step further and is intended to shun Russian imperialism.
Pushkin monuments disappear from Ukrainian streets following Lenin, as decolonization is underway
