Ukraine Removes 1,320 Vladimir Lenin Statues, 1,000 Soviet Monuments: Report

Ukraine Removes 1,320 Vladimir Lenin Statues, 1,000 Soviet Monuments: Report
Armed pro-Russian militants guard a check-point on which is placed a bust of Lenin in the village of Semenovka, near the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk, on May 22, 2014. Separatist rebels killed at least nine Ukrainian soldiers in the restive east on May 22, dealing a heavy blow to the beleaguered government just three days before a crunch presidential poll. AFP PHOTO/ VIKTOR DRACHEV Photo credit should read VIKTOR DRACHEV/AFP/Getty Images
Jack Phillips
Updated:

Ukraine has removed all 1,320 statues of Vladimir Lenin, the first Soviet dictator, following a government campaign to remove its Soviet-era symbols.

In every village, town, and city controlled by Kiev, monuments to the communist leader—considered a dictator by many—were removed. The initiative was made law by President Petro Poroshenko in May 2015, according to The Times of London on Aug. 18.

Some streets were renamed, including Lenin Street in Zakarpattia, which was later renamed to Lennon Street in a tribute to Beatles singer John Lennon, the Telegraph reported.

Another 1,069 Soviet-era monuments have also been removed, said Volodymyr Viatrovych, director of the Institute of National Remembrance. 

“Lenin is no more in cities in Ukrainian-controlled territory,” Vyatrovych said.

The toppling of the Lenin statues began when protesters took down a monument in Kiev during the Euromaidan demonstrations in 2014. Later, a 2015 law banned communist and Nazi symbols.

In the United States, amid calls to remove statues of Confederate soldiers and generals, there have been calls to remove the statue of Lenin in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, a Democrat, called for the removal of the Lenin statue as well as Confederate statues, saying they represent “historic injustices,” the Seattle Times reported.

Lenin’s famine

Some historians have noted that Lenin’s policies helped trigger the Povolzhye famine, which started in 1921 and ran until 1922, leaving millions dead and even more affected.

The famine was so bad that peasants were driven to do the unthinkable: cannibalism.

Alleged human body parts during the 1921 Russian famine (The cover of magazine "Черная Година", 1922)
Alleged human body parts during the 1921 Russian famine The cover of magazine "Черная Година", 1922
Jack Phillips
Jack Phillips
Breaking News Reporter
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter who covers a range of topics, including politics, U.S., and health news. A father of two, Jack grew up in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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