Tearing down Russian monuments in Ukraine
The Kyiv city council has decided to dismantle 15 monuments and other memorials associated with the history and symbolism of the Russian monarchy and the Soviet Union. These include the monument to the author Mikhail Bulgakov, the memorial stone commemorating the 100th anniversary of Lenin's birth, and the memorial plaque to Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
Poets and great thinkers don't need monuments
In a Telegram post picked up by Echo, journalist Sergei Parkhomenko comments on the dismantling of monuments, not only in Kyiv but also in Odessa:
“Bulgakov, Akhmatova, Glinka, Pushkin and many others whose names can still be found in the streets of Ukrainian, Russian, French, American, German and Israeli cities can make do without monuments. Monuments are not what defines their legacy or their role in people's lives. The question is whether people still read Bulgakov, Akhmatova and Pushkin and listen to Glinka. And that applies to every author, irrespective of their nationality or historical origins, at all times.”
Worry about what's going on in Russia
In a Facebook post, the well-known Russian author Boris Akunin reflects on the monument controversy and the recent reappearance of Stalin monuments in Russia:
“What has been happening between Russians and Ukrainians over the past four years is far more terrible than the tearing down of bronze or stone. So these monuments are being removed. Well that's their business. Let the Ukrainians live as they want to, read whatever authors they want to read – what really matters is that their 'Russian compatriots' stop tormenting and killing them. Because it's already clear that our paths have diverged and will never cross again. ... And anyway, we shouldn't worry about which monuments are being demolished in another country, but about which monuments are being erected here in Russia.”