Kiev, 300 streets with Russian names will be renamed and 60 monuments dismantled

Change the name of all those streets that remind us of Russia and Belarus and remove the monuments that pay homage to their historical characters. The authorities in Kiev, Ukraine are ready to do so, as explained by the secretary of the city council Volodymyr Bondarenko in an interview with the newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda. “We are collecting proposals to rename streets and squares. We have a lot of work to do. 279 names linked to the attacking country were identified and its allies, but there may be even more. At the moment we are waiting for suggestions from the residents ».

Bondarenko explained that a number of toponyms, such as Moskovskaya Street or Amurskaya Squaremust be unequivocally changed, while the debate on other names is still open (for example Belorusskaya Street: Since Ukraine has welcomed many Belarusians who fled the Lukashenko regime, there are volunteers among them who are fighting on the side of Kiev against the Russian invaders). The reflections, however, will be done quickly: the authorities believe that it is not appropriate to wait any longer.

Kiev also wants dismantle about 60 monuments and commemorative plaques relating to Russia. According to the secretary of the city council, the decisions must be taken by 9 May. “We have a unique opportunity to make a decision once and for all. Nobody will remove Russian classics from libraries, nobody will ban Rachmaninov’s concertsbut the question of roads and monuments must be resolved ».

Meanwhile, according to a survey of 1034 Ukrainians of age, representative of the entire nation and conducted on 18 and 19 April by Sapiens info, 82% of Ukrainians oppose the official recognition of Crimea as part of Russia, as a condition for ending the war. And, if at the end of March, 79% considered the “common Russians” guilty of invading Ukraine now 84% believe it. And if at the end of last month, 68% was absolutely 72% sure of victory now. At the same time, the share of Ukrainians who believe that the war will last several months or more has increased: in three weeks it has gone from 48% to 59%. That is to say, despite their faith in victory, most Ukrainians do not expect it to be a quick and easy finish.

Of all the partners of Ukraine, the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians are satisfied only with the help of Poland (90%). The majority (54%) are also satisfied with assistance from the United States, but not with assistance from the EU (53%), Germany (69%) and NATO (53%). The percentage of people who harbor negative feelings towards Russia has increased from 72% to 96% since 2021, and towards China from 26% to 56%.

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