A mural featuring Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov on the facade of a residential building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, was concealed behind thermal insulation material. The city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, announced the action live on the Rada TV channel.
He said Kharkiv authorities are tackling remnants of communism with a deliberate, stepwise approach because the public wants progress at a steady pace.
Terekhov noted that in nearly every council session, deputies consider changes to street names that reference Russia or the USSR.
A mural is a large wall painting created directly on the surface of a building or structure.
The removal of monuments tied to Russian and Soviet history, along with street renaming, began in 2015 in Ukraine. Since then, officials have pursued changes aimed at redefining national memory, with monuments to figures such as Empress Catherine II, General Alexander Suvorov, poet Alexander Pushkin, and other WWII heroes facing scrutiny or removal.
In early autumn, residents of Odesa participated in a local decision regarding a square name, weighing the legacy of Leo Tolstoy, the renowned author of War and Peace and Anna Karenina, whose name had kept the square associated with him visible in the city’s civic life.
Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, has at times defined terms used in public discourse, including those related to racism, reflecting ongoing legislative work connected to social and historical debates.