Since the 2022 Russian invasion Pushkin is viewed in Ukraine as aRussian propaganda symbol.[1] Hence since the Russian invasion dozens of local Pushkin monuments and hundreds of Pushkin streets in Ukraine have been dismantled and the streets renamed.[2]
Prior to 2022 Pushkin was the third most common historical figure represented in Ukraine's streetscapes.[1] In 2021 thousands of toponymic objects in Ukraine were named after him.[3] InPoltava Oblast alone, as of February 24, 2022, 120 toponymic objects were named after Pushkin.[3]
Ukrainian researcherVolodymyr Yermolenko claimed that Russian literature has been a "vehicle of the country’s imperial project and nationalist world-view," giving as examples Pushkin,Lermontov andGogol.[4] He mentioned Pushkin's poemPoltava, which recounts the revolt ofUkrainian CossackhetmanIvan Mazepa against TsarPeter the Great during theSwedish invasion of Russia and portrays Mazepa – who had sided with the invading Swedes – as a lecherous traitor.[4] Following theRussian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Pushkin's situation turned out to be quite similar to the destruction of monuments toLenin known asLeninopad.[5] The phenomenon was dubbed "Pushkinopad" (Пушкінопад) by Ukrainians, a pun literally translated as "Pushkinfall", with the coinage of "-пад" being akin to English words suffixed with "fall" as in "waterfall", "snowfall", etc.
A bronze bust of Pushkin was removed from Glory Square (Ploshсha Slavy) inKyiv. Erected in 1899, it was the oldest monument to Pushkin in the city.
The first event that became widely known was the dismantling of the monument to Pushkin inMukachevo on April 7, 2022.[6] Monuments to the Russian poet were dismantled inUzhhorod[7] andTernopil on April 9.[8][9]Serhiy Nadal, mayor of Ternopil from the far-rightSvoboda party, commented:
The crimes of Russians against the Ukrainian people: murder, torture of people, rape of women and children, destruction of Ukrainian cities have crossed out the entire culture of the Russian people. There is no explanation for these crimes. They leave us no choice. Everything Russian must be dismantled. Including the monument to the Russian writer.[10]
Early June 2024 the Ukrainian NGODecommunization.Ukraine [uk] reported that there were less than 300 Pushkin streets to be renamed in Ukraine.[15] The largest number of streets, alleys and squares named after Pushkin remained inZaporizhzhia Oblast (57 toponyms) andVinnytsia Oblast (38 toponyms).[15] In April 2025 Decommunization.Ukraine stated that the highest number of remaining monuments and plaques dedicated to Pushkin were located inOdesa Oblast, 6 of which located inOdesa.[3] While in the whole ofRussian occupiedDonetsk Oblast only 5 monuments were located (4 inDonetsk and 1 inMariupol).[3] 3 Pushkin plaques remained (in April 2025) inKyiv, including one hidden from the public inKyiv Metro stationUniversytet.[3]
On March 22, 2022, a resident ofTernopil painted a Pushkin monument red and wrote "stop war" on it. In Ternopil, the monument to the poet was erected in 1961. The first initiatives to demolish it appeared in 2014, after the start of theRusso-Ukrainian War.[16]
On April 7, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was demolished inMukachevo. The very next day, theUzhhorod City Council also decided to dismantle the monument to Alexander Pushkin[17]
On April 19, 2022, inKropyvnytskyi, they proposed to remove the monument to Pushkin, which currently stands near the Pedagogical University.[19] The monument was dismantled on July 8, 2022.[20]
On April 26, 2022, a monument to Alexander Pushkin was torn down in the village of Pushkino in theBerehove Raion of theZakarpattia Oblast, and meetings began to rename the village.[21]
On April 28, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was dismantled inKonotop. The head was torn off during the dismantling of the monument.[22]
On April 30, 2022, a Pushkin monument was destroyed inChernihiv.[23]
On May 5, 2022, a memorial plaque to Pushkin was dismantled inVinnytsia.[24]
On May 21, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was dismantled inMykolaiv.[26]
On June 1, 2022, a monument to Alexander Pushkin was damaged inNikopol.[27]
On June 3, 2022, the "Ukrainian People's House" society proposed to remove the bust of Pushkin from the building of theOlha Kobylyanska Drama Theater inChernivtsi and replace it with the bust ofYurii Fedkovych. The director of the theater supported the proposal but stressed that all legal requirements and regulations had to be met before removing the bust.[28]
On June 16, 2022, a working group of theMinistry of Education and Science of Ukraine decided to remove more than 40 works by Soviet and Russian authors, including Alexander Pushkin, from school textbooks.[29]
On July 26, 2022, a bust of Pushkin was dismantled inZaporizhzhia. The bust made of forged copper stood in the city for more than 20 years and was dismantled with the permission of the mayor's office.[30]
On September 1, 2022, a bust of Pushkin was dismantled inKyiv on the territory of gymnasium No. 153 (named after Pushkin).[31]
On October 11, 2022, unknown persons dismantled the second bust of Pushkin in front of the National Transport University inKyiv. The co-founder of the "Decommunization Ukraine" project said that the dismantling was dedicated to Lieutenant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Denys Antipov, alias "Buk" – a well-known public activist, teacher of the Korean language at theTaras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, who had died in May 2022 in a battle with Russian invaders.[32]
On November 9, 2022, a bust of Pushkin, which stood on Poetry Maidan inKharkiv, was dismantled and sent for safekeeping. TheKharkiv City Council stated that this monument, and possibly others, should be preserved, but the residents will decide this issue in peacetime.[33][34][35] The pedestal of the monument was dismantled on June 5, 2024.[36]
On November 11, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was dismantled inZhytomyr.[37]
On November 11, 2022, a monument to Pushkin in the city ofZhmerynka was dismantled.
The former monument to Pushkin in Dnipro dismantled in December 2022 photographed in August 2024
On November 16, 2022, Pushkin Avenue inDnipro was renamedLesia Ukrainka Avenue.[38] A monument to Pushkin that stood there was dismantled on December 16, 2022.[38]
On November 17, 2022, a statue of Pushkin was dismantled inChernivtsi.[39]
On November 20, 2022, unknown persons overthrew a bust of Pushkin inNikopol.[40]
On November 21, 2022, a monument to Pushkin inKremenchuk was dismantled.[41]
On November 29, 2022, a memorial plaque to Pushkin was dismantled inMykolaiv.[42]
On November 29, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was dismantled inAnaniv.[43]
On December 9, 2022, the monument to Pushkin in the city ofTulchyn was dismantled.[44]
The monument to Pushkin inDnipro was dismantled on December 16, 2022.[44]
On December 23, 2022, the second sculpture of Pushkin was dismantled in the city ofChernivtsi.[45]
On December 24, 2022, it was dismantled in the city ofKrolevets.[46]
On December 27, 2022, the bust of Pushkin was dismantled from the facade of the Chernivtsi Drama Theater named after Olha Kobylianska.[47]
On December 29, 2022, the bust was dismantled inPolonne.[48]
On December 29, 2022, the second memorial plaque to Pushkin was dismantled in the city ofMykolaiv.[citation needed]
On December 30, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was dismantled inKramatorsk.[49]
In April 2023, thePoltava City Council voted to dismantle the monument to Pushkin in this city.[50] Also in April 2023, "Pushkin Park" was renamed "Family Park" inKramatorsk.[51]
On May 3, 2023, (in its second reading) theVerkhovna Rada adopted the law "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine On the Protection of Cultural Heritage" which legalized the removal of "Soviet and imperial cultural monuments" from the state register.[52]
On July 13, 2023, Pushkin Park in Kyiv was renamedIvan Bahrianyi Park.[53] On 15 November 2023 the monument to Pushkin that had remained in the park was dismantled.[54]
On 23 October 2023 a theater in Kharkiv that was named after Pushkin dropped his mentioning in its name and was renamed to Kharkiv Academic Drama Theater.[55]
