KIEV, November 25. /TASS/. The city hall of Ukraine’s coastal city of Odessa has ruled to dismantle and relocate the monument to Empress Catherine the Great, on whose decree the city was founded in late 18th century.
"During a session of the executive committee of the Odessa City Council, ExCo members supported the decision to dismantle and relocate the Monument to Odessa’s Founders," referring to the monument by its official name.
Ukrainian lawmaker Alexey Goncharenko reported earlier on Thursday that the executive committee of the Odessa City Council had also resolved to demolish a monument to 18th century Russian Generalissimo Alexander Suvorov.
Earlier, the lawmaker demanded that Odessa Mayor Gennady Trukhanov, who helped to install the statue about a decade earlier, removed it. The monument has already been defaced twice in this month alone.
The monument to Catherine the Great has also been frequently defaced by vandals lately. On July 5, an online petition proposing to replace it with a monument to actor Billy Herrington known for his roles in pornographic movies in the 1990s garnered 25,000 votes necessary for the petition to be considered by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. On July 13, a second petition on demolishing the monument amassed 25,338 votes. On August 1, Zelensky reacted to both petitions and asked the city’s authorities to consider this issue. That said, he noted the necessity of getting rid of Russia-related objects.
Russia-related monuments are being targeted for dismantling and geographic locations with Russia-associated names are being changed in Ukraine, as part of the Kiev regime’s crusade aimed at full ‘decommunization’ and ‘de-russification.’.