The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Nikolaev, Alexander Senkevich, stated that the statue of the poet Alexander Pushkin was taken down from the monument by local public services to deter vandalism. Reports from RIA Novosti cite this decision as a precautionary measure aimed at preserving the artwork and maintaining public safety in a tense urban environment.
Residents first noticed the absence of the poet’s figure from the monument, which stands at the intersection of Pushkinskaya and Naberezhnaya streets, on a recent morning. The bronze statue depicted a twenty-something Pushkin mounted on a granite plinth. The monument, conceived and completed in 1988 by sculptor Yuri Makushin, has long served as a local landmark, attracting visitors and serving as a point of reference in the city’s public space.
Earlier removals of similar monuments occurred in other Ukrainian cities, with dismantling taking place in Ternopil, Uzhgorod, and Chernihiv. These actions reflect a broader wave of reassessment around public memorials and their place in contemporary urban life, amid shifting cultural and political currents in the region.
Separately, a petition circulated on the Ukrainian presidential website, authored by journalist and writer Elena Pavlova, proposing a renaming of all streets named after Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin in honor of American writer Stephen King. The petition highlights ongoing debates about national memory, the lasting impact of historical figures on street naming, and how communities choose to recognize literary heritage within the modern landscape.