The Kyiv Municipality will remove the People’s Friendship Arch, a monument celebrating the unity between Russians and Ukrainians in the context of the Soviet Union, from the city center, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital announced today.
Vitaliy Klitschko, justifying the demolition of the monument dating back to the Russo-Ukrainian War, said, “Russia has stigmatized its attitude towards Ukraine with its desire for the brutal murder of peaceful Ukrainians, the destruction of our cities and towns, and the destruction of our state.” .
At the end of February, Ukraine announced the end of diplomatic relations with Russia, after Eurasia invaded Ukrainian territory as a result of Kiev’s military and economic approach to the West.
Inaugurated in 1982 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Soviet Union, the monument consists of three structures:
- Bronze statue of two workers, one Russian and one Ukrainian, holding the Order of Friendship of Peoples, an honor bestowed in Soviet times.
- A rainbow-shaped titanium belt about 50 meters in diameter.
- and a 17th-century granite monument representing the Treaty of Pereslavia, a sign of Ukraine’s separation from Poland and its rapprochement with Russia.
The statue of the workers will be removed from the area, and the monument referring to the agreement will be covered. According to the mayor of Kyiv, removing the granite statue requires a “more complex procedure” in the future.
The rainbow-shaped arch will remain in place, but it has been renamed and with a new meaning, Klitschko noted, stating that the structure will take on the colors of the Ukrainian flag – in this case: yellow and blue.
source: Noticias
