Plans are underway in the Odesa region to reburial Kotovsky from the mausoleum

In Podilsk, Odesa Oblast, plans are underway to reinter the remains of Soviet military leader Grigory Kotovsky. His body is currently interred in a mausoleum, and following the reinterment, it is planned to be moved to the city cemetery.

This was reported by the organization “Decolonization. Ukraine.”

The organization published the response to an inquiry submitted to the government hotline. A letter from the executive committee of the Podilsk City Council states that the decision on the reburial is being prepared in accordance with an order from the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine dated August 10, 2026, and a directive from the head of the Odesa Regional State Administration dated July 26, 2024.

Response to the inquiry. PHOTO: NGO “Decolonization. Ukraine”/Facebook

These documents pertain to the removal of monuments from the state register and the dismantling from public spaces of objects bearing symbols of Russian imperial policy.

“Finally. We have been trying to advance this process for nearly 10 years,” noted the organization “Decolonization. Ukraine.”

Grigory Kotovsky was a Soviet military and political figure who participated in the establishment of Soviet power in Ukraine. After his death in 1925, his body was embalmed and placed in a mausoleum in what was then Birzula, now Podilsk.

The city council noted that further details regarding the reburial process will be announced at a later date. The date for the transfer of the remains has not yet been announced.

As previously reported, Kotovsky’s crypt in Podilsk was removed from the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine. The corresponding order from the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine was issued on August 10, 2026. Removal from the register stripped the structure of its status as a historic monument, which could have prevented its dismantling.

Ірина Глухова