‘Lenin was an enemy of humanity’: Why Kyiv wants to put Cossack chief statue in place of Soviet leader
Summary
Ukraine removed a statue of Soviet leader Lenin in Kyiv during the 2014 Maidan revolution. President Zelenskyy proposed replacing it with a statue of Ivan Mazepa, a historic Cossack leader who fought for Ukrainian independence, as part of Ukraine’s ongoing effort to reclaim its national identity away from Russian influence.Key Facts
- The Lenin statue in Kyiv was toppled and damaged during the 2014 Maidan revolution.
- President Zelenskyy announced plans to put a statue of Ivan Mazepa in its place.
- Mazepa was a Cossack leader who broke with Russia and sought Ukrainian independence in the early 1700s.
- Ukraine has been removing Soviet-era monuments as part of a “decommunisation” process since gaining independence in 1991, accelerating after Russian aggression since 2014.
- Ukrainian experts say this is part of a broader effort to reclaim national identity and resist Russian claims that Ukrainians and Russians are one people.
- Mazepa is seen as a complex but important figure in Ukrainian history, once allied with Russia but later opposing it.
- Statues of Russian cultural figures seen as symbols of imperialism, like poet Pushkin, have also been taken down in Ukraine.
- The change reflects Ukraine’s desire to tell its own history without outside influence or distortion.
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