Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a statue celebrating the friendship between the two countries was taken down on Tuesday, April 26, 2022 in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. This was located under a huge arch, one of the most emblematic monuments in the city.
(Map: Western France)
A huge titanium arch stretching like a crescent moon over a bronze statue depicting two men brandishing an imposing Soviet medal. The Arch of Friendship of Nations is one of the symbols of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Next door, a terrace offers impressive views of the city, the wide Dnieper River and the vast forests that line the metropolis. The work was installed in 1982 to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the Soviet Union, but also to celebrate the friendship between Russia and Ukraine. Only here it is: Due to the Russian invasion of the country, the statue rising under the arch was taken down on Tuesday April 26, 2022.
The bow in yellow and blue
The arch in 2016. (Photo: Ouest-France)
The arch itself is not dismantled, only the statue depicting the Russian and Ukrainian workers. A video posted by Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko to the Telegram messaging platform shows workers busy around it, pushing tapes around the monument as a crane prepares to lift it. In some images, separated from the rest, we see the head of one of the statues placed on the ground.
“This monument symbolized the friendship between the Ukrainian and Russian nations. We now see that this “friendship” consists of the destruction of Ukrainian cities, the annihilation of Ukrainian lives and the deaths of tens of thousands of peaceful people. I am convinced that such a monument now has a completely different meaning.” the elected official said in a remark reported by Reuters news agency.
The stele that supported the monument will be dismantled ” later “, said Vitali Klitschko. The arch, meanwhile, is not allowed to move: the idea is to rename it and light it up in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, yellow and blue.
Monuments dismantled, streets renamed
The bronze statue that was under the arch, with the head of one of the two figures on the ground, Tuesday April 26, 2022. (Photo: Laurence Figa-Talamanca / EPA-EFE)
In addition to 60 years of USSR and the friendship between the two peoples, the arch installed in 1982 was also meant to celebrate the founding of Kiev 1,500 years ago, according to online architecture database Architectuul. It was meant for that too “to commemorate the reunification of Ukraine and Russia”, always after the mayor Vitali Klitschko.
As early as 2016, the Ukrainian authorities were planning to dismantle the ark, the Ukrainian news agency Unian reported. A consequence of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the conflict in Donbass that began the same year. There was also talk of erecting a monument on the city heights to pay homage to Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the east of the country.
In 2018, activists put up a trompe l’oeil sticker showing a tear down the center of the arch, notes the travel guide Lonely Planet. A way of underscoring the rupture in relations between Ukraine and Russia.
The dismantling of the monument is not an isolated act in Ukraine. The country has been pursuing a policy of “decommunization” for several years, specifically aimed at restoring certain sites to their pre-Bolshevik Revolution names of 1917 and unlocking statues of Lenin, among other things.
In Kyiv, the city authorities intend to dismantle 60 more monuments, bas-reliefs and other symbols “connected to the Soviet Union and Russia”, said Vitali Klitschko again. 460 streets also need to be renamed.