22 May 2025
(Photo: Odesa City Council)
In Odesa, public utilities have begun to protect city monuments from destruction and vandalism.
According to the press service of the Odesa City Council, specialists from the Service Center utility company have been taking care of monumental art objects that do not have the status of cultural heritage but require regular attention throughout the year.
During the warm season, the municipal services wash the monuments, renew the paint, restore the inscriptions and, if necessary, eliminate the consequences of vandalism. In addition, the monuments are coated with a special anti-vandal solution - its oily structure makes it difficult to apply inscriptions with paint or markers.
Special attention is paid to bronze elements: once a year they are treated with a protective compound that prevents the formation of a green coating known as patina.
Recently, utilities have renewed the painted elements of the Wings of Victory obelisk to the heroic city of Odesa, the monument to Odesa's Chernobyl victims, and the memorial complex Sorrowful Memory of the Century dedicated to Afghan soldiers. The tiles near the Girl and Dolphin sculptures and the monument to the Chernobyl victims were also repaired.
Recently, a memorial plaque to Russian writer Alexander Pushkin, which was on the facade of the former Richelieu Lyceum building at 16 Deribasovskaya Street, was smashed in Odesa. It is unknown who did this.
Before that, activists of the public organization "We make you nerves" staged a performance on a bust of Alexander Pushkin located on Primorsky Boulevard in the center of Odesa.
The action took place in the context of a conflict because passers-by were outraged by the actions of the activists, and they, in turn, advised those dissatisfied with their actions to go to Russia.
The day before, unidentified persons had vandalized a monument to Soviet Marshal Rodion Malinowski, located at the corner of Preobrazhenska and Sofiyivska streets.
In September 2024, Odesa signed an order to dismantle the monument to Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, which is located on Primorsky Boulevard in front of the city hall.
Ірина Глухова