Odesa summarizes the anniversary of the decolonization of urban space

On Thursday, July 31, the Hrushevsky Library in Odesa hosted an event dedicated to decolonization: a year has passed since the Head of the Odesa Regional State Administration issued decrees No. 694/A-2024 on renaming streets and No. 695/A-2024 on dismantling monuments. The conversation focused on the effectiveness of the law, including problems and suggestions.

The law is perceived as 'decorative' because the heads of the regional administrations were authorized to issue orders regarding prohibited symbols, but were not given the tools to implement them in practice-this task is assigned to local governments. At the same time, the latter often do not comply with these orders, which leads to the fact that the initiative actions of individual citizens may become grounds for administrative or even criminal prosecution.

Some local governments, guided by openly anti-Ukrainian or anti-state views, replace names, such as those dedicated to modern heroes, with neutral ones. This partially devalues efforts to rethink public space. Today, the formation of this space is entirely dependent on the decisions of local authorities, which makes the process overly politicized and creates risks of erosion of Ukrainian identity.

As a reminder, in the summer of 2025, UNESCO is to consider an open letter of appeal from Ukrainian cultural figures regarding the demolition of monuments in Odesa and the renaming of streets. Among the more than 120 signatories are Isak Babel's daughter and grandson, chess player Mikhail Golubev, artist Mykhailo Reva, and writer Maya Dimerli. The main demand was to freeze the decision in order to have time to get acquainted in detail with each renamed name and dismantled monument to determine whether they are necessary or not.

Катерина Глушко