The Odesa city council said on Nov. 5 that it would vote on the issue during its next session after most voters supported the dismantlement on a municipal online platform.
Odesa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov said that he would vote for dismantling the monument to Russian Empress Catherine II on Odesa's Katerynynska Square and transferring it to a special park devoted to Odesa's Russian Empire and Soviet periods.
Trukhanov, a former lawmaker from ex-President Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions, had previously appealed to pro-Russian voters. In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in August, Trukhanov said that he was against dismantling monuments to Russian historical figures.
However, he changed his rhetoric after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The monument to Catherine II and other founders of Odesa is a major landmark of the city. Pro-Ukrainian activists have advocated dismantling it for years, while pro-Russian activists have opposed the move.
