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Kiev to remove Soviet emblem from landmark WWII monument

The 102-meter sculpture weighting 560 tons is a part of the Museum of the History of Ukraine in World War Two

KIEV, January 20. /TASS/. The Soviet Union’s coat of arms, the hammer and sickle, will be removed from the Motherland Monument in Kiev dedicated to the World War Two victory over Nazi Germany, the head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance said on Wednesday.

"The Soviet coat of arms will be removed from the statue," Vladimir Vyatrovich said on his Facebook page.

The 102-meter sculpture weighting 560 tons is a part of the Museum of the History of Ukraine in World War Two. It is located on the bank of the Dnieper River and is under reconstruction since 2009.

In April 2015, Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed a law condemning Communist and Nazi totalitarian regimes, banned their propaganda and symbols. In May, President Petro Poroshenko signed four relevant laws, or the so-called "decommunization package."