Odesa historian says monument to Duke should be demolished

Doctor of Historical Sciences Oleksandr Muzychko has publicly stated that Odesa should get rid of monuments to Richelieu, Vorontsov, and Pushkin as markers of the city's imperial past.

He expressed his opinion at a press conference at the Ukrainian Media Center.

According to him, the Duke de Richelieu, which Odessans are accustomed to considering a symbol of the city, also needs to be dismantled.

"It is time to remove Duke, like Pushkin, from the center of Odesa. It is not a symbol of our history, it is something that was imposed on us. For years, we have been told that these figures are symbols of the city, although in fact they have nothing to do with Ukrainian Odesa," the historian said.

Monuments to Yuriy Lypa, Ivan Lypa, and Karavansky should appear in Odesa. Muzychko also suggests dismantling all monuments erected in Soviet and imperial times. Even the one to Taras Shevchenko.

"Decolonization must be consistent. And if I am asked whether it is necessary to remove, for example, Shevchenko, if the monument was made in Soviet times and it does not carry Ukrainian content, I will say: yes, it is necessary," the historian emphasized.

Earlier, Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov found himself at the center of another scandal over a monument to Russian poet Alexander Pushkin on Primorsky Boulevard in Odesa.

On June 28, activists of the public organization "We are getting on your nerves" staged a rally in support of the dismantling of the monument to Pushkin in Odesa.

In May, activists of a civic organization engaged in conflicts that ended in fights for two days in a row with the defenders of a memorial plaque in the Heroes of the Border Guards Park in Odesa. Over the course of two days, representatives of one of the NGOs who were trying to dismantle the memorial plaque and local residents clashed. On the first day, one citizen prevented the activists from tearing down the plaque, and as a result, they used gas spray on him. No statements or reports were filed with the police regarding this incident.

Кирило Бойко