The Soviet-era monument symbolised Ukraine and Russia’s bond. ‘It’s no friendship anymore,’ said the city’s mayor, as the bronze statue located under the famous “People’s Friendship Arch” was dismantled
Workers dismantle the Soviet monument to Ukraine-Russia friendship in Kyiv amid the war. AFP
Russia has stepped up its offensive in Ukraine, attacking several eastern towns and villages. The country has suffered immeasurable losses, but more than two months into the war continues to stand up to the aggressor nation. In the latest protest, Ukrainian authorities have dismantled a huge Soviet-era monument, a symbol of friendship between the two neighbouring nations.
The eight-metre bronze statue shows two men – a Russian and Ukrainian worker – holding up a medal representing the Soviet Union’s Order of Friendship of Peoples. The statue was located underneath a towering titanium arch, “People’s Friendship Arch”, that stood in central Kyiv.
A piece of history
The rainbow-shaped installation was gifted to Ukraine by the Soviet government in 1982 as a symbol of the relationship between Russia and Ukraine. It was erected to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Soviet Union and the celebration of 150 years of Kyiv.
The Friendship Arch was constructed by sculptor A Skoblikov and architect I Ivanov. The monument consists of three elements: the huge, 50 metre in diameter, rainbow-shaped arch, made of titanium, the bronze statue, and a granite stele depicting the participants of the Pereyaslav Council of 1654, where allegiance was pledged by Ukraine’s Cossacks to the tsar of Russia.
‘No friendship anymore’
“We now see what this ‘friendship’ is – destruction of Ukrainian cities… killing tens of thousands of peaceful people. I am convinced such a monument has an entirely different meaning now,” said Kyiv mayor Vitaly Klitschko. “This place had a name, the place of friendship between Russia and Ukraine… It’s no friendship anymore.”
“Russia destroyed the normal life of millions of Ukrainians and destroyed the peace in Europe,” he told BBC.
Workers started removing the head of the Russian worker first, which fell to the ground, as Ukrainians cheered. The entire statue was then lifted by a crane and lowered to the ground, as 100 people shouted slogans like “glory to Ukraine,” according to news agency Reuters.
“Russia invaded Ukraine… Can we be friends with Russia? What do you think? This is our worst enemy, that is why the monument to Russian-Ukrainian friendship doesn’t make sense anymore,” Serhiy Myrhorodsky, one of the designers of the monument told Reuters.
From friends to foes
With tensions between the two nations rising, the arch became increasingly controversial. The metal arch over the statue was altered in 2014 when Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. Activists painted a large crack across the top as a reminder of Russia’s aggression and the damage it has caused to their relationship.
The arch will remain in place but will be remained the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People and will be painted in colours of the country’s flag.
Kyiv to reclaim streets and more monuments
The Friendship Arch is not the only monument that has changed. Ukraine wants to reclaim its cities and streets and erase all association with Russia.
The Kyiv City Council told a Ukrainian newspaper it was going to change the names of streets linked to Russia and its close ally Belarus.
The capital city itself is now widely known as Kyiv, rather than Kiev because the latter was based on a historical Russian derivation, although Ukraine first implemented this change after it went independent in 1991, reports Huffington Post.
There are 279 streets and 60 memorials and plaques that will be transformed, according to TVP World, a Polish news site. Volodymyr Bondarenko, deputy mayor of Kyiv, said that city residents could submit suggestions for streets to be renamed and objects to be removed by 1 May.
“No one intends to take books of Russian classical authors down from library shelves or forbid people to attend concerts of Rachmaninoff,” he said, according to NPR. “But the matter of street names and memorials needs to be brought to a close.”
With inputs from agencies
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