Removal of Soviet Symbol from the 'Mother Ukraine' Monument in Kyiv

Workers in Kyiv on Sunday, August 6, installed the national emblem of Ukraine (the trident) on the 'Mother Ukraine' monument in the city, replacing the old Soviet symbol that was depicted on it. This memorial is a 62-meter (200-foot) steel statue of a warrior woman, built in 1981 atop a hill on the right bank of the Dnipro River. The figure, gazing eastward, holds a 16-meter (52-foot) sword in her right hand and an eight-meter shield in her left hand. Originally, the Soviet Union's emblem, featuring a hammer and sickle among wheat sheaves, was depicted on this shield. The change of Soviet symbols in Ukraine was legislated in 2015, a year after Russia occupied and annexed Crimea and supported separatist proxy forces in the east of the country. Across Ukraine, hundreds of statues of Russian poets and Soviet generals have been destroyed, and public art and propaganda murals have been covered or removed. Since then, thousands of streets and dozens of cities and villages have been renamed. Streets and squares that were previously named after leaders or generals of the Soviet Union have been renamed to reflect national history, prominent Ukrainians, or friends of the Ukrainian people, such as the late U.S. Senator John McCain. This action, which Ukraine has intensified following Russia's invasion of the country last year, is rooted in a movement called 'decommunization.'