Lviv Oblast has completed the process of decommunization, becoming the first Ukrainian oblast to do so, Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said on Jan. 30.
The Ukrainian parliament outlawed most Soviet and communist symbols, street names, and moments in 2015 as part of the decommunization process. Monuments around the country have since come down or been changed, although the sheer number of Soviet-era statues and symbols has prolonged the completion of the project.
Ukraine made a significant step in August 2023 when the Soviet hammer and sickle was removed from the Motherland monument, the country's tallest statue and a fixture of the Kyiv skyline. It was replaced by the trident, Ukraine's coat of arms.
Kozytskyi said that 312 Soviet monuments were removed in 2023, with the last remaining structure taken down in the community of Lopatyn, located around 90 kilometers from the city of Lviv.
No funds from the oblast's budget were used in dismantling the monuments, according to Kozytskyi.
Instead, local citizens helped to remove them, he said.
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