As the war of the Russian invasion of Ukraine intensifies; The Ukrainians decided to confront the invaders not only in battlefields; Rather, on the cultural level, by targeting all the statues of Russia’s greatest poets and the founder of its modern literature, the poet Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837). A large number of Pushkin statues were destroyed in the cities of Ukraine. However, his prominent statue in the center of Kiev remained in its place, but it was devoid of any protection. While the Ukrainians were keen to surround their cultural statues with sandbags, and other measures to ensure their safety from the ruthless Russian weapons, they left the Pushkin statue in the center of Kiev unprotected… waiting for a Russian missile or a Russian drone to destroy it! Ukrainians describe the statues of Pushkin and other Russian magnates as “imperialist”. They say that Pushkin is a “soldier of the counterculture”. Pushkin has become a symbol of Ukrainian hostility to Russia since the outbreak of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022. So far, more than 30 statues of Pushkin have been destroyed across Ukraine. Which seems strange to Europeans; Who wonders how a revolution could be launched against the statues of a person who died more than two centuries ago! Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky approved legislation to remove all “colonial” manifestations. This brings to mind Ukraine’s decision in 2015 to enact legislation to remove all manifestations of “communism” from its cities. This led to the removal of statues of Lenin, Marx, and other poles of communism. This also led to the changing of the names of more than 200 streets in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities. The 2015 law requires the removal of any image, monument, statue, and paintings glorifying “Russian imperial policy”; Whether during the era of the tsars, or during the Soviet era. Ukrainian writers say that Russian literary and artistic works are a reflection of the values of the Russian tsarist empire. They believe that erasing these traces is the only way to remove the values of violence that they contain. Ukrainians are annoyed by Pushkin’s poetic works, especially his famous poem “To Those Who Offend Russia”, which he organized in response to the Polish uprising against Russia in 1830. Especially since he says in it that the borders of “Great Russia” extend from the Ural Mountains to Crimea, and from Iceland to Georgia. Research conducted 5 years ago stated that the number of streets in the cities of Ukraine named after Alexander Pushkin is 594. Pushkin ranks third in Ukrainian street names, after Ukraine’s national poet Taras Shevchenko and Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Ukrainian writers believe that allowing the erection of statues of Pushkin and other symbols of the annihilated empire means recognizing that Ukraine belongs to Russia. In October 2022, a number of Ukrainian activists removed the oldest statue of Pushkin in Slavi Square, where it had been standing since 1899. Finally, the residents of the capital, Kiev, approved renaming the “Pushkin Park” to bear the name of the famous Ukrainian novelist Ivan Bahryanyi. It is reported that Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was born into a noble family in Moscow. And his eldest grandfather, of African descent, was kidnapped by the Ottomans from his country, but the Czar of Russia liberated him and placed him among the members of the royal family in Moscow.
