The toponymic commission of Odessa proposed to leave monuments to Russian figures Vorontsov and Pushkin: «They are of exceptional artistic value»

The toponymic commission of Odesa recommended leaving monuments to Russian figures — the writer Alexander Pushkin and Prince Mykhailo Vorontsov.

Such recommendations were made by the Historical and Toponymic Commission under the Executive Committee of the Odesa City Council, NikVesti writes.

The commission considered issues regarding city monuments of monumental art that may be subject to the Laws of Ukraine «On Condemnation of Communist and National Socialist Totalitarian Regimes in Ukraine and Prohibition of Propaganda of Their Symbols» and «On Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and the decolonization of toponymy».

The commission recommended that the monument to the Russian writer Lev Tolstoi be moved to a museum that is yet to be created. Until then, the monument is going to be placed in a protective box.

At the same time, the members of the commission recommended leaving the monument erected to commemorate the uprising of sailors on the battleship «Potemkin», located on Mytna Square.

«The mutinous sailors on the Potemkin battleship were not Bolsheviks. The Soviet authorities usurped the assessment of those events, passing them off as an outbreak of revolutionary sentiments — the first harbinger of the future «storm» of 1917. In fact, in modern textbooks of the history of Ukraine, the view of the events on the battleship «Potemkin» has been significantly changed. It was an example of the struggle of Ukrainians against the Tsar and national oppression. The battleship uprising contributed to the deepening of the power crisis in the Russian Empire and had negative foreign policy consequences for it,» — the commission noted.

The commission recommended leaving the monument to the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, located on the territory of the UNESCO World Heritage Site — Primorskyi Boulevard. This decision was made because the law on toponymy decolonization does not apply to world heritage sites.

«This is one of the most outstanding monuments of monumental art on the territory of Odesa, it is of exceptional artistic value,» — says the commission's conclusions.

A similar decision was made regarding the monument to Prince Mykhailo Vorontsov, located on Cathedral Square. This object, according to the commission's conclusions, also «is of exceptional artistic value».

The commission also recommended leaving the Alexander Column monument, located in the Central Park of Culture and Recreation named after Taras Shevchenko, in place. According to experts, the column existed in the park throughout the Bolshevik and Soviet periods, and is also a «commemorative column in honor of the foundation of the park». However, the decorative elements of the imperial symbols will be removed from the monument and the name will be changed in the State Register to «Commemorative column in honor of the foundation of the park».

They will also not touch the monument to the Russian scientist-physicist Oleksandr Popov, which is located near the building of the Odessa State University of Intelligent Technologies and Communication. At the same time, the word «Russian» will be removed from the name.

A bust of Grigory Vakulenchuk, one of the organizers of the uprising of sailors on the battleship «Kniaz Potemkin-Tavriiskyi», will also remain. It is noted that he was a Ukrainian from Zhytomyr Oblast, like another leader of the rebellion, Panas Matiushenko.

The monument to mathematician, mechanic, academician Oleksandr Lyapunov will not be removed either, because «the scientist did not participate in the promotion of Russian imperial narratives».

At the same time, the commission recommended leaving a monument to Soviet General Ivan Chernyakhovskyi, as he was a «talented military leader, and his activities had a significant impact on the fight against fascism».

However, the commission recommended that the monument to the pilot Valery Chkalov and the sculpture of Felix Dzerzhinskyi, a Soviet statesman and party figure, be moved to the museum.

We will remind, in December 2022 in Odessa, the dismantling of the monument to the Russian empress Catherine II was completed. Before that, a red executioner's cap was put on the monument, and a noose was hung on the hand.

As previously reported, the MY ART creative platform analyzed 1,200 names of streets, alleys, avenues, parks, squares and squares of the city, in accordance with the current Register of toponyms of the city of Mykolaiv. As a result of this work, they plan to rename 259 street names associated with the aggressor state.

Back in April 2023 , the Mykolaiv City Council adopted a new regulation regarding the renaming of toponyms — the authorities plan to get rid of all Russian names in the city. After that, the deputy commission on legality approved a new version of the regulation on the activities of the toponymy commission, which will deal with street renaming.

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, reported that there was a commission on toponymy in the city, which was engaged in renaming streets, but its composition needs to be updated.

In August, it became known that the toponymy commission has not yet started working. Due to the withdrawal of one of the candidates, the deputies of the city council had to update the composition of the commission.

However, already in September, at the session of the city council, the deputies approved the new composition of the toponymic commission. Major General Dmytro Marchenko was included in it, but with the note «by agreement».

We will also remind you that Major General Dmytro Marchenko, who led the defense of Mykolaiv at the beginning of the full-scale war, opposed the renaming of one of the city's streets after him.

Previously, according to the interim results of a survey within the project «Decolonization: rethinking the imperial past in the public space of Mykolaiv», the name of Dmytro Marchenko became one of those in whose honor Mykolaiv residents propose to rename the streets of the city. The offer was submitted by 32 respondents.

At the same time, in Mykolaiv, the toponymy commission proposed new options for renaming 23 more streets as part of the decolonization process.