You're reading: Plenty of Lenins standing in Kyiv

Probably most people in Kyiv – and many around the world – have seen the video of EuroMaidan protesters toppling the city’s most famous Vladimir Lenin from its pedestal on Shevchenko Boulevard.

But the city still
has plenty of other Soviet symbols, including at least 10 more Lenin
statues. Ukraine inherited more than 1,500 statues of the Bolshevik
Revolution leader, compared to only 1,256 monuments to Taras Shevchenko,
Ukraine’s iconic poet.

During the EuroMaidan Revolution, protesters removed 318 Lenin statues all over the country. But his image is hard to remove, even in Kyiv.

On Andriyivsky Uzviz, one of the city’s most popular tourist destinations, Lenin stares at tourists from T-shirts, badges, kitchen magnets and other clothes.

But now the vendors are changing their wares as more Ukrainians drop whatever nostalgia they might have had for the Soviet Union.

One vendor sells Ukrainian and some Soviet souvenirs, although they have to hide many Soviet souvenirs “because (nationalist) Right Sector activists came and shamed us for selling Soviet souvenirs.”

It is still possible to buy a red Communist Party flag for Hr 60 and a mug adorned with a Stalin image for Hr 40. Russian flags are also available, but one vendor reported not selling one for more than a year.
Mykhailo Kalnytskiy, a historian and the member of Ukrainian Association for Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments, says some 10 Lenin statues remain in Kyiv. Most of them are located on the premises of Soviet-era factories.

One of those became a new gathering spot for the Kyiv branch of the Communist Party. For Lenin’s birthday anniversary, celebrated on April 22, his followers convened at a Bolshevik factory on Peremohy Avenue, to lay flowers at one of the Lenin monuments.

“I think it’s OK for those monuments to be there as long as they are protected,” Kalnytskiy says.
Kalnytskiy noted that Kyiv’s metro used to have at least three Lenin images – at Teatralna (which was called Leninska until 1993), Universitet and Beresteiska stations. There is only one left, on Teatralna.

Vladyslava Osmak, a culture expert and Kyiv Mohyla University professor, is convinced that “Kyiv needs to deliberately get rid of many Soviet-style features,” including Khrushchev-era apartment blocks and drab monuments. But Osmak thinks it should be done carefully, without ruining the monuments. “There’s a thin line between vandalism and city cleanup,” she said.

The best way to preserve the historical valuable monuments, Osmak said, is to open a museum of Soviet monumental art.

Arseniy Finberg, co-founder of the Interesting Kyiv tourist bureau, said that some Soviet architecture and monuments should be kept. Finberg thinks that some buildings on Khreshchatyk Street and architecture of metro stations to be the most beautiful Soviet-era creations in the capital.

“But it would be better to take Lenin statue out of Teatralna station to a special museum,” Finberg adds.

Many people, however, are still interested in Kyiv’s Soviet heritage. A year ago Interesting Kyiv launched its “Back to the USSR” tour which aims to show Kyiv’s Soviet face, preserved in architecture. The three-hour tour starts near the National Opera on Volodymyrska Street and moves towards European Square, where the former Lenin museum (currently the Ukrainian House) was located. Tours are available in Ukrainian, English and Russian languages and cost Hr 60.

Finberg says that those tours are popular with foreigners because “the Soviet period is an unavoidable part of Ukraine’s history and foreigners are often interested particularly in this period.”

The Museum of Unwanted Things is a must-see for Soviet-era enthusiasts. Located on the Kyiv Recycling Plant, the museum gathered hundreds of statues, old pianos, sewing machines, badges, bullet sleeves left from World War II and old furniture. The museum is open on weekdays from 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. The exhibition is free.

Kyiv Post staff writer Olena Goncharova can be reached at [email protected].