The documentation process to dismantle the Soviet hammer and sickle on the statue in Kyiv is already underway, Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko said on national television on May 6.
"Now project documentation is being prepared to understand in what way and how best to remove it, what works should be carried out there," he said.
On May 3, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, voted a law to remove Soviet and Russian empire monuments left in Ukraine.
The law states that monuments dedicated to people who held leadership positions in the Communist Party, to events related to the Communist Party and the establishment of Soviet power on the territory of Ukraine, and symbols of Russian imperial or Soviet totalitarian policy will not be considered part of Ukraine's cultural heritage anymore.
Ukraine's parliament had already adopted a resolution on May 2 defining Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's regime as "rascism," also known as "rashism" or "ruscism," a contraction of "Russian fascism."
It refers to Russia's expansionist fascist political regime, mixed with ultranationalism and a cult of personality centered around Putin.
In May 2015, the Ukrainian government passed laws to initiate a clean break from the country’s communist past.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
(Updated: )
