Kharkiv, Ukraines second largest city, said goodbye to its landmark statue of Lenin located in the heart of the city’s main square – thus sending a message to Russia that Kharkov belongs to Ukraine. Ukrainians have torn down a statue of Lenin in a move supported by officials. The so-called Fall of Lenin – the Ukrainian movement of toppling statues of the Soviet-era totalitarian leader by strong-willed citizens – began in Kyiv last winter, on December 8th, when Euro-Maidan protesters took down the statue of Lenin near the Bessarabska district. Soon after, over 150 monuments throughout Ukraine were felled by Ukrainians to show that they are eager to part with Soviet symbols and demonstrate their pro-democratic and pro-European outlook. Putins imperial ambitions, and the threat of restoring a Soviet-style state, prompted Ukrainian activists to declare a definite no to the suggestion of slipping back into Russias control. On Sunday, September 28, the wave of sentiment reached Ukraines large – and rather inert – Russian speaking city of Kharkiv and its 1.5 million inhabitants, only twenty-five miles away from the Russian border. Since the anti-government protests broke out in Kyiv in December of last year, the city has largely stayed out of the protest movement and was threatened by separatism due to its controversial mayor Hennadiy Kernes, linked to pro-Russian structures. But with war in Donbass – only about 100 miles away – patriotism among local residents of all ages grew. Despite the fact that a majority of the city’s people speak Russian and many residents have close ties with Russia – not to mention feeling little connection to Western Ukraine and Ukrainian nationalism – Kharkivs identity has come out as decisively Ukrainian following Russias recent incursions. Russian propaganda painted Kharkiv as a city willing to join Russia in a heartbeat. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a long-standing and eccentric member of the Russian Duma, publically called the educational and industrial center a Russian city. Kharkiv has even been included in various maps of what the Kremlin calls future Novorossiya – a fictional state made up by Russian president Putins advisers for the South-Eastern parts of Ukraine. These examples of wishful thinking on the Kremlin’s part were largely contradicted by Sunday’s events, plus the latest poll conducted by Russian oppositionist Alexey Navalny and his anti-corruption center. The survey of Kharkiv and Odessa showed that 87% of respondents in both regions wanted to be part of Ukraine, 8% were undecided, and 3% and 2% respectively said they would want to join Russia and become part of Novorossiya. Kharkovs rally for peace and a united Ukraine brought out around five thousands people on Sunday, by various estimates. In a time of war, when dozens of people wounded in Donbass continue to arrive in Kharkov’s hospitals, not all the residents lent support to the rally as well as the toppling of the monument. However, local businesses and individuals developed a steady volunteer and fundraising movement in support of the Ukrainian army and military hospitals. On Sunday night, when protesters had already gathered around the statue for a Kharkiv is Ukraine rally, the governor of Kharkiv region, Ihor Baluta, signed an order to dismantle the statue. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov wrote on Facebook that he had given orders for police to ensure only the safety of people, not the idol. Lenin? Let him fall... he wrote. As long as people dont get hurt. As long as this bloody communist idol does not take more victims with it when it goes. #Ukraine #RussiaInvadedUkraine #UkraineUnderAttack #MalaysiaAirlines #MH17 #USA #Obama #Pentagon #NATO #UnitedNations #Power #Germany #Poland #Lithuania #Estonia #Latvia #Crimea #Poroshenko #Donetsk #Luhansk #Slovyansk #Mariupol #Ilovaisk #OSCE #Putin #Russia #Terrorists #War #Convoy #Moscow
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 18:34:48 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015