Statue of Lenin in Kharkiv

The Statue of Lenin in Kharkiv was a sculpture monument to Vladimir Lenin, located in the Freedom Square, Kharkiv, Ukraine. It was the largest monument to Lenin in Ukraine.[1] The monument ID was 63-101-0682.

Toppling of the statue of Lenin in Kharkiv, 28 September 2014.

Statue of Lenin in Kharkiv
The statue in 2013
Coordinates50°00′17″N 36°13′52″E
LocationKharkiv, Ukraine
Opening date1964
Dedicated toVladimir Lenin
Dismantled date2014
Statue was destroyed on 28 September 2014. Because of Ukrainian decommunization laws it shall not be rebuilt.

Destruction of the monument

The statue was toppled and destroyed on 28 September 2014. Ukrainian media reported that police had begun an investigation into "vandalism".[2] In April 2015 a Kharkiv Court ruled that the destruction of the monument had not been illegal since on 28 September 2014 then Governor of Kharkiv Oblast Ihor Baluta had decreed that the monument should be removed.[3] In (this) court case the Kharkiv city council had tried to recognize this decree by Baluta as illegal.[3]

In November 2015 Kharkiv Mayor Hennadiy Kernes officially admitted that because of Ukrainian decommunization laws the statue of Lenin could not be rebuilt.[1] According to him in the near future architects, artists and the city council would decide how to give Freedom Square a "European appearance".[1] Radio Free Europe reported that Kernes would be pushing for the building of a "modern fountain", which once was located at the same spot as the toppled Lenin statue.[1]

The pedestal and foundation of the statue were dismantled/removed in April 2016.[4] In August 2016 pavers were laid on the site where the statue of Lenin stood.[5] On 8 August 2016 Kharkiv First Deputy Mayor of Kharkiv Ihor Terekhov stated "In the place where there was a monument to Lenin, there will be nothing."[6]

Fountain instead of statue

After an open competition it was decided on 3 February 2017 that Freedom Square will get a new 86 meters high monument.[7] At its top an angel with an Orthodox cross watching over four figures who somehow resonate with the history of Slobozhanshchina (Anacharsis, Igor Svyatoslavich, Semen Hulak-Artemovsky and Mykhailo Petrenko.[7] After the monument had been approved civil society in Kharkiv expressed its opposition to the competition, according to them the designed sculpture didn't fit in the context of the square obliterating the symbolic value of the space. A petition demanding to cancel the decision on installing the column was registered on the official website of the Kharkiv City Council and more than 5000 people voted, establishing the minimum number for the Kharkiv City Council give an official answer for the request. This petition was supported by Docomomo International.[8]

The 86 meters high monument was never built and on 17 April 2020, at session of the Kharkiv city council, Kharkiv Mayor Kernes announced that a new fountain would appear on the site of the former statue to be opened 23 August 2020 (23 August is Kharkiv's city day).[9] This fountain was indeed opened on 23 August 2020.[10]

See also

References
  1. (in Ukrainian) Kernes: Lenin monument in Kharkov not restore, Radio Free Europe (11/20/2015)
  2. "Ukraine nationalists tear down Kharkiv's Lenin statue". BBC News. 28 September 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  3. (in Russian) The court denied the Kharkiv city council to recognize the illegal demolition of the monument to Lenin, UNIAN (07.04.2015)
  4. (in Russian) On Freedom Square demolished pedestal the statue of Lenin (photo), SQ (11 April 2016)
    (in Russian) At the site of a monument to Lenin will not build anything on Freedom Square, SQ (11 April 2016)
    (in Russian) At the site of the monument to Lenin, there is a pit (photo, video), SQ (21 April 2016)
  5. (in Russian) The reconstruction of the square in the square (photo), SQ (10 August 2016)
  6. (in Russian) Liberty Square returned to original form, SQ (8 August 2016)
  7. (in Ukrainian) Lenin in Kharkiv replacement found, Ukrayinska Pravda (3 February 2017)
    (in Russian) It is known to be a monument to the Freedom Square (photo), SQ (3 February 2017)
  8. Under Threat: Freedom Square in Kharkiv, Ukraine (DATE: 27/2/2017)
  9. (in Russian) Kernes showed what a "dry" fountain will look like in the square on Freedom Square, My Kharkov .info (18 April 2020)
    (in Russian) Kernes showed what the fountain in the square on Freedom Square will look like (video), My Kharkov .info (17 August 2020)
  10. (in Russian) A new attraction has appeared in Kharkov (photo, video, updated), Gorod.X (24 August 2020)
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