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==Response==
==Response==
The removal or destruction of Lenin monuments and statues gained particular momentum after the destruction of the Kyiv Lenin statue. Under the motto "Ленінопадів" (Leninopadiv, translated into English as "Leninfall"), activists pulled down a dozen monuments in the Kyiv region, Zhytomyr, Chmelnitcki, and elsewhere, or damaged them during the course of the EuroMaidan protests into spring of 2014.<ref>http://tsn.ua/ukrayina/leninopad-trivaye-vozhdya-skinuli-v-kanevi-mikolayevi-hersoni-336067.html</ref> In other cities and towns, monuments were removed by organised heavy equipment and transported to scrapyards or dumps.<ref>http://www.radiosvoboda.org/content/article/25225395.html</ref>


===Political response===
===Political response===

Revision as of 01:06, 24 February 2014

File:Пошкоджений Ленін у Києві (2013).jpg
The Lenin statue as it stood on 2 December
Demonstrators on the plinth of the statue after it was toppled

The fall of the monument to Lenin in Kiev took place on December 8, 2013 during the Euromaidan protests. Several protesters toppled and dismantled the monument. In its place, protesters later installed a golden toilet atop the pedestal as a symbol of state corruption, and later, the plinth has become a site of political artwork.[1]

Background

The larger than life-size (3.45 meters [11.32 feet]) Lenin monument was built by Soviet sculptor Sergey Merkurov from the same red Karelian stone as Lenin's Mausoleum. It was displayed at the 1939 New York World's Fair and erected on Kiev's main Khreshchatyk Street (at the intersection of Shevchenko Boulevard, opposite the Bessarabsky Market) on 5 December 1946.

According to the decree of the former President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, this monument of Soviet totalitarianism should have been removed after Ukraine gained independence.[2]

Nevertheless, due to the resistance of the Communist Party of Ukraine, whose members were elected to Verhovna Rada, the last Kiev monument to Lenin was left standing.

Since the fall of Soviet rule, the monument survived numerous vandalizing attempts which lead to both increased policing of the area and frequent vigils by Communist activists.

Demolition

Main article: 1 December 2013 Euromaidan riots

On December 1, 2013 a group of masked men attempted to topple the statue during the surge of the Euromaidan protests. Police immediately reacted by deploying a small Berkut riot police unit which was attacked, overwhelmed and forced to flee. Euromaidan leaders immediately denounced both the monument attempt and the clash with police as an action of unaffiliated "provocateurs".

Subsequently, on December 8, 2013, several Ukrainian individuals subsequently claimed to be affiliated with the Svoboda political party,[3] toppled the statue, as Kiev police silently looked on. The statue then broke from impact with the ground.[4]

After the fall of the Lenin statue the crowd began to sing the national anthem of Ukraine. Later, pieces of the monument were picked up by protesters as souvenirs.[5][6]

Response

The removal or destruction of Lenin monuments and statues gained particular momentum after the destruction of the Kyiv Lenin statue. Under the motto "Ленінопадів" (Leninopadiv, translated into English as "Leninfall"), activists pulled down a dozen monuments in the Kyiv region, Zhytomyr, Chmelnitcki, and elsewhere, or damaged them during the course of the EuroMaidan protests into spring of 2014.[7] In other cities and towns, monuments were removed by organised heavy equipment and transported to scrapyards or dumps.[8]

Political response

A member of the Ukrainian parliament from the party UDAR, Valeriy Karpuntsov, announced that Ukrainian police had started arrests of people present in the area during the fall of the last monument to Lenin in Kiev.[9]

The governor of Kharkiv Oblast, Mykhailo Dobkin, tweeted on 8 December 2013 about starting a crowdfunding campaign to restore the monument "“Tomorrow I will open the account for restoration of the monument to Lenin in Kiev… Everybody, who hates Guzuls for their stupidity, join".[10] He stated that he would allocate the sum of 100,000 hryvnias for the restoration of the monument.[10]

Public opinion

Most residents of Kiev (69%) had a negative attitude to the removal of Lenin’s monument during the mass protest actions, while 13% had a positive attitude and 15% remained indifferent.[11]

Notable figures

  • Singer Ruslana (one of the leading figures of the protests[12][13][14]) was critical of the event, saying, "We do not need any barbaric actions. We condemn acts of vandalism, savagery, violence and anything that can divide and split Ukraine [...] doubling monuments and calls for aggression is nothing but a movement in the opposite direction of European integration and humane society."[15]

Gallery

Pictures of the aftermath

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ "Mannequins placed in Lenin's old spot". 13 February 2013. Archived from the original on 14 February 2014. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 1 December 2008 suggested (help)
  2. ^ Про заходи у зв'язку з 75-ми роковинами Голодомору 1932 – 1933 років в Україні decree of the President of Ukraine № 250/2007
  3. ^ Svoboda assumes responsibility for pulling down Lenin monument in Kyiv"Svoboda assumes responsibility for pulling down Lenin monument in Kyiv". ZIK. 8 December 2013. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2014. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 1 December 2008 suggested (help)
  4. ^ "Lenin statue toppled in Ukraine protest". CNN. 8 December 2013. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 1 December 2008 suggested (help)
  5. ^ Slade Sohmer (8 December 2013). "Full Video of Protesters In Kyiv Toppling, Decapitating Lenin Statue". Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 1 December 2008 suggested (help)
  6. ^ "Protesters rid Kyiv of Lenin statue". Kyiv Post. 8 December 2013. Archived from the original on 9 December 2013. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 1 December 2008 suggested (help)
  7. ^ http://tsn.ua/ukrayina/leninopad-trivaye-vozhdya-skinuli-v-kanevi-mikolayevi-hersoni-336067.html
  8. ^ http://www.radiosvoboda.org/content/article/25225395.html
  9. ^ "Міліція вже почала затримувати людей за повалення пам'ятника Леніну - УДАР". Ukrayinska Pravda. 9 December 2013. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 1 December 2008 suggested (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ a b "Dobkin despises Guzuls and is collecting money for the new monument to Lenin in Kiev". Nah News. 9 December 2013. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 1 December 2008 suggested (help)
  11. ^ PRESS-RELEASE “ATTITUDE OF RESIDENTS OF Kyiv TO REMOVAL OF LENIN’S MONUMENT” In the period from 10 to 14 of December 2013 the company Research & Branding Group
  12. ^ Daryna Shevchenko (29 November 2013). "Musicians liven up EuroMaidan". Kyiv Post. Archived from the original on 29 November 2013. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 1 December 2008 suggested (help)
  13. ^ "Bershidsky on Europe: Swiss Reject Pay Cap". Bloomberg. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013. Yet the Euromaidan, as the protest campaign is known, is serious enough to give President Viktor Yanukovych a serious scare.
  14. ^ ""Євромайдан" вимагає скасування рішення уряду про відмову від євроінтеграції" (in Template:Uk icon). Voice of America: Ukrainian. Archived from the original on 29 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 1 December 2008 suggested (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  15. ^ Ruslana. "Ми не хочемо, щоб Творча Революція перетворилася у погроми..." (in Template:Uk icon). Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 1 December 2008 suggested (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)

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