MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/. Another monument to 19th-century Russian poet Alexander Pushkin in Kiev was defiled by vandals with spray paint, Ukrainian publication Klimenko Time reports.

According to a photograph uploaded to the publication’s Telegram channel, on October 27 persons unknown defaced the monument with red and white spray paint, leaving an inscription on the statue calling for its demolition. Earlier, Kiev municipal authorities had demolished another monument to the poet, located on the premises of Preparatory School No. 153.

On September 20, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy initiated the process for expunging a number of monuments pertaining to Russian history from the official state register, including the Pushkin monument, a monument to Civil War hero Nikolay Shchors, and the grave of Soviet general Nikolay Vatutin in the center of Kiev.

Acts of vandalism against monuments associated with Russia have recently been committed across Ukraine on a regular, systematic basis. The campaign against monuments to Soviet and Russian figures in the country began in 2015 after the enactment of the so-called decommunization law. By the beginning of 2022, the authorities had demolished more than 2,500 monuments, and changed the names of more than 900 population centers and about 50,000 streets. In 2022, a new round of Kiev’s campaign against anything reminiscent of Russian and Soviet history and culture was launched in the country. The Ukrainian Ministry of Culture said that 9,859 geographical names were changed and 145 monuments were demolished.