Statue of Lenin given a Balkan makeover in Ukraine
- Published
The statue faced demolition under a law banning communist symbols
As statues around the world get toppled and vandalised, one Ukrainian village has found a creative approach to its historical legacy.
The monument to Lenin in Zaliznychne, Odesa Region, has been altered, external to represent the village founders - ethnic Bulgarians who arrived in the 19th century.
Lenin is now dressed in traditional Bulgarian attire, holding pruning shears and a grape vine, with a bag of grapes at his feet.
Villagers argued that such a makeover would be easier and cheaper than demolition.
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Lenin statues have almost entirely disappeared from Ukraine since communist symbols were outlawed in 2015. Over a thousand of them have been demolished, but some underwent more curious transformations.
In 2015, another monument of Lenin took a life of its own after being turned into the dark lord Darth Vader, external.
The country's Soviet legacy remains a contentious subject. A recent poll, external suggested that a third of Ukrainians are in favour of banning communist symbols, another third are against it and around a quarter of are indifferent.
'Positive decommunisation'
Lenin's latest transformation was received with enthusiasm as well as scepticism on social media.
"America, heed our example!", external one person exclaimed.
In 2015 a statue of Lenin was transformed into Darth Vader
Another praised it as a creative solution: "I wish we had more examples of such positive decommunisation, external."
The example inspired others to come up with suggestions. "We should do that to all monuments to avoid destroying them", one user wrote. "How about an LGBT Lenin?" , external"
Echoing that sentiment, one person urged for this "ingenious solution", external to be adopted all over Ukraine, which "has its own heroes, saints and other legendary figures".
But others were not convinced. "You can change the hat, but the face is still the same., external Conformists," one post proclaimed.
Some called the transformation "mimicry", external, while others thought it was best approached with irony: "Good stuff should not go to waste, right?" , external
The decision has even upset the leader of the Communist Party faction in the Russian State Duma, Gennady Zyuganov, who said it was wrong to treat monuments this way, external.
Reporting by Margaryta Maliukova
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