Odessa leads Ukraine in the number of Pushkin statues that have not been removed

Odesa leads among Ukrainian cities in the number of undemolished monuments to Alexander Pushkin —there are still three such monuments in the city. Another monument associated with the Russian poet is located in Tatarbunary in the Odesa region.

This was reported by the civic initiative “Decolonization. Ukraine,” which has updated a map of Pushkin monuments and memorial plaques that have not yet been removed in Ukraine.

Three sites are marked on the map in Odesa: a bust near City Hall, a monument near the museum, and a bust on the facade of the Odesa Opera House.

Thus, there are a total of four undemolished sites associated with Pushkin remaining in the Odesa region. Three of them are located in Odesa itself.

For comparison, in the territory controlled by Ukraine, the updated list also includes one site in Kyiv—a bas-relief depicting Pushkin at 60 Janusz Korczak Street.

PHOTO: Decolonization. Ukraine

Separately, “Decolonization. Ukraine” has marked on a map the sites located in the temporarily occupied territories. Specifically, there are four in Donetsk and one each in Luhansk, Mariupol, Skadovsk, Henichesk, Kakhovka, Berdiansk, Sevastopol, Simferopol, and Yalta. Three such sites are listed in Melitopol.

Recently, in the town of Tatarbunary in the Odesa region, a damaged monument to the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin—which had been slated for removal—was restored.

In February 2026, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine removed the Pushkin monument in Tatarbunary from the list of sites that are not subject to inclusion in the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine. The list also excluded the historic site where, according to sources, the poet stayed and where the monument is located.

Андрій Колісніченко