Monuments to Skoropadsky and Petliura should replace Lenin and Shchors in Kyiv – Alforov
Oleksandr Alforov, Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance believes that monuments to Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky and the Head of the Directorate of the Ukrainian People’s Republic Symon Petliura should be erected on the sites of the former monuments to Vladimir Lenin and Mykola Shchors in Kyiv.
Commenting on the changes to the capital’s memorial space in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine, Alforov noted that there are several "arteries of memorialization" in central Kyiv.
In particular, one such artery is the line from the Square of Ukrainian Heroes, which he believes should be made pedestrian, to European Square.
"Shevchenko Boulevard is an interesting artery because it starts at the site of the former Shchors monument, has the Hrushevsky monument in the middle, and then the pedestal where Lenin stood. In my opinion, where Shchors stood, there should be a monument to Symon Petliura, which would face the street of the same name leading to the railway station. Then Hrushevsky remains, and on the site of Lenin—Pavlo Skoropadsky. Skoropadsky Street is also nearby. In this way, we form a unified boulevard that unites the figures of the Ukrainian State and the Ukrainian People’s Republic," he noted.
Following Bessarabska Square is Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), where, in his view, the Museum of the War for Ukraine’s Independence could be placed on the site of the glass amphitheater of the Globus shopping center.
"Further is the Memorial to the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred, which is currently not being built because several families are against it, although the state has already purchased 80% of the materials and held an international competition. Then—the Museum of the Revolution of Dignity. Next, we reach European Square with the Ukrainian House, which are also spaces for forming this line of memorialization," he added.
The head of the Institute considers the second Kyiv artery of memorialization to be the space connecting the Vydubychi Monastery, the Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the Holodomor Museum, Glory Square, and Mariinsky Park.
"And then these two arteries converge near the Dnieper hills, which became the foundation for the construction of the city of Kyiv," Alforov stated.
As previously reported, Alforov believes that the National Pantheon of Ukrainian Heroes should be located on one of the islands on the Dnieper in Kyiv, while the National Memorial of Ukrainian Heroes should be on the slopes near the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
