The city council of Novomoskovsk in the Dnipropetrovsk region has proposed a name change to New Samar, a development reported by Strana.ua. The move forms part of a broader discussion about renaming and historical remembrance in Ukrainian cities navigating post-Soviet legacies and contemporary political realities.
As with many discussions about renaming, several alternatives were on the table. In addition to New Samar, proposals for Samar and Prisamarsk were among the options considered by local officials, reflecting a careful weighing of historical associations, local identity, and administrative practicality in the decision-making process.
Experts in Ukrainian history note that such renaming efforts often attract scrutiny from scholars and civic groups alike. A prominent voice in the debate is Vladimir Vashchenko, a Doctor of Historical Sciences and a professor in the history department at Dnieper National University. He characterized this proposed name as a remake that does not appear in primary written sources, suggesting that it represents a modern reimagining rather than a continuation of long-standing nomenclature. His assessment highlights the tension between innovative naming and adherence to established historical records in regional geopolitics and memory politics.
Following the city council’s decision, the proposal must advance to higher national scrutiny, specifically the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, for formal approval. The sequence illustrates how municipal initiatives intersect with national policy in matters of place names, regional autonomy, and the national project of memory management amid ongoing decommunization efforts.
In December, statements from regional authorities emphasized the scale of decommunization activities across western Ukraine. Anna Gerich, who leads a working group on decommunization within the regional administration, reported that 289 Soviet-era monuments had already been dismantled in the Lviv region since the start of 2023. The statistic underscores the accelerating pace of changes in public space and the contested process of monument removal that continues to provoke discussions among residents and local officials alike.
Beyond the central and western regions, local communities in Ivano-Frankivsk region also weighed in on monument preservation versus removal. Reports indicated that residents of the villages Zagorye-Kukolnytskoye and Kinashev gathered at meetings to oppose dismantling monuments dedicated to Soviet soldiers. The residents publicly expressed a desire for those monuments to remain, framing the issue as a matter of local memory, historical continuity, and the emotional impact of monuments on everyday life in their communities.
Meanwhile, industrial and cultural life in Ukraine continues to intersect with broader national narratives. Earlier reports noted that the Umanpivo factory dismissed a release of the beverage Zhigulevskoe, illustrating how regional industries echo larger frames of national identity and consumer culture during periods of rapid social change. Such developments, while separate from renaming debates, contribute to the complex tapestry of Ukrainian civic life as it negotiates memory, heritage, and modernization in the 21st century. (Source attribution: Strana.ua)
The renaming discussions, the decommunization efforts, and the responses from local communities collectively demonstrate how Ukrainian cities balance the impulse to redefine public space with the desire to preserve local memory. Each city’s path reflects distinct histories, social dynamics, and political pressures, yet all converge on a shared question: how should a place name signal identity in a country navigating reconstruction of its past and its future? Analysts observe that the naming process often serves as a lens into broader debates about national sovereignty, regional autonomy, and the ethical considerations surrounding memorials and symbols that survived several decades of Soviet influence. The shaping of space, language, and memory remains a live topic in cities across Ukraine as officials, scholars, and residents negotiate the terms of remembrance and belonging for generations to come. (Attribution: Strana.ua)”}