Work to dismantle the Soviet emblem on Kyiv's Motherland Monument has started, the Culture Ministry reported on July 30.
The monument will instead be fitted with a Ukrainian trident, which will reportedly be finished by Ukraine's Independence Day on Aug. 24.
The State Inspection of Architecture and Urban Planning announced on July 13 that it had issued a permit to replace the emblem of one of Kyiv's most significant landmarks.
As the inspection commented on social media, this change comes as a part of the decommunization process in Ukraine.
The Motherland Monument, also known as "Fatherland Mother" in a direct translation from the Ukrainian original, was built in 1981 during the Soviet era. It depicts a woman holding a sword and a shield emblazoned with the Soviet sickle and hammer symbol.
In April 2015, the Ukrainian parliament outlawed most Soviet and communist symbols, street names, and moments as part of a decommunization process. This prompted discussion on the continued presence of Soviet symbols on Ukraine's tallest statue.
In a survey from 2022, 85% of respondents supported the idea to replace the Soviet emblem with a trident – the Ukrainian coat of arms.
On May 3, 2023, following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the parliament voted on a law to remove Soviet and Russian empire monuments left in Ukraine.
Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko announced three days later that the plans to replace the Soviet symbol on the Motherland Monument with a Ukrainian coat of arms are underway.
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