ERR in Odesa: Locals divided over the removal of Russian monuments

Despite being a Ukrainian city, albeit with a large Russian-speaking minority, many residents of Odesa, the third-largest city in Ukraine, are unsure of or even resistant to the wholesale removal of monuments, street names, and other relics of its Russian-influenced past.
They argue that in a state of war, priorities should focus on the present and future, not erasing symbols linked to the city's history.
Others are keen to see the changes made, however; one local newspaperman said that the changes are being carried out arbitrarily and inconsistently in any case.
Odesa, a Black Sea port city, west of the Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, has been under Russian fire off and on since the start of the current invasion in February 2022.
Two years ago, Ukraine passed a decolonization law which mandates the removal from public spaces of monuments and references to figures from the Russian Empire and from the Soviet Union.
In Odesa, however, enforcing the law has met with resistance from local residents who are reluctant to part with familiar monuments and street names.
A monument to Catherine the Great (reigned 1762-1796), considered to be the city's founder, though a settlement had been on the site since antiquity, was removed over two years ago.

A memorial to those who have fallen in the current war now stands in its place. Despite this, the decolonization law demands that nearly 20 more monuments need to be taken down, with dozens of street names to be changed too.
One local resident, Vladislav, told "Aktuaalne kaamera": "If monuments get removed just because they are dedicated to some Russian individuals or other, it makes no sense. Why do this; really? Just because of this stupid war? It makes no sense. Let the monuments be. They were erected precisely to commemorate, and there is no point in removing them just because they are Russian. That is it."
Svitlana Bondar, coordinator of the Re:Open Ukraine project, empathized with those who want to retain the monuments and street names in Odessa. However, she noted that their removal doesn't mean a complete airbrushing of history.
"This doesn't mean that those removed from the place naming will disappear from life. No one wants that, first off. Second, the matter of each individual must be discussed on a case by case basis," Bondar said.

"Why these monuments were put up is clear. They were markers, you see. They marked out 'our' territory — this is our land. For this reason, why we can be here and defend it... That's how things are," she continued, noting the complexities of the matter.
Discussions are challenging at any time, but during wartime, this is particularly the case.
Ivan Liptuga, head of the city's department of culture and eurointegration, said: "The war has complicated everything and has radically divided society."
"There are very few arguments here. Because it's very difficult to discuss the removal of monuments when the conversation is about the lives of people living today," Liptuga went on.
A monument to Vladimir Vysotsky (1938-1980), a Soviet-era Russian singer-songwriter, actor, and poet, which was sited in front of Odessa's film studio, became the latest casualty around Christmas time.

Vysotsky was only the first; Soviet-era writer and journalist Isaac Babel (1894-1940) and famed Russian poet and playwright Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) were apparently next in line.
Oleg Suslov, editor-in-chief of a local evening newspaper, also expressed frustration about the selective renaming of streets.
"I live in the Lähedaste Veskite district. I had two streets there—Skvortsova and Yefimova, both [named after] revolutionaries. Skvortsova Street was renamed, but Yefimova was not. And so on and so forth. This selectivity is incomprehensible. I don't understand it," Suslov said.
Another local resident, Mikhail, also said he was pretty baffled.
"It turns out that nothing depends on us. Decisions are made at a higher level. But we will always know where the Pushkin monument stood and where the [Soviet military commander and Odesa native Rodion] Malinovsky monument, which is also planned for removal, was located. I don't know," Mikhail told ERR.
Many locals also wonder why the removal of monuments is even a priority during wartime. Suslov said: "The war isn't over. We haven't won yet. First, the war must be finished, won, and only then should we deal with the past. Right now, we are dealing with the present and the future."

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, Odesa and its surrounding region have repeatedly been targeted by Russian shelling and airstrikes, including attacks launched from warships stationed in the Black Sea, as well as from Russian cruise missiles.
ERR journalist Anton Aleksejev and camera operator Kristjan Svirgsden have been providing regular reportages from Ukraine, including the front line areas, since the Russian invasion began.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Marko Tooming