News

Mar 22, 2024

Ukrainian trident replaces Soviet hammer and sickle on Motherland Monument

The statue, which towers over Kyiv, will also be renamed Mother Ukraine as the government moves to 'de-Russify' the country Ukraine has installed a trident on the USSR-built Motherland Monument that

The statue, which towers over Kyiv, will also be renamed Mother Ukraine as the government moves to 'de-Russify' the country

Ukraine has installed a trident on the USSR-built Motherland Monument that towers over Kyiv, replacing a Soviet hammer and sickle emblem in a symbolic break from the past.

The statue of a woman armed with a sword and shield will also be renamed Mother Ukraine and officially re-unveiled on independence day on Aug 24, as Kyiv moves to purge public areas of reminders of imperial Russian rule.

Ukrainians welcomed the changes as construction workers posed on top of the monument early on Sunday after winching the 7.60 metre-tall trident into place.

“Finally, after so many years, it is happening,” said Ivan on Twitter. “Me, and probably a lot of people, have waited for a long time and now we can finally show Russians that their ideology and nation has no place in Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s ministry of culture has said that the new trident symbol has been made from Ukrainian steel and with its £600,000 cost paid by private business.

The trident is a Ukrainian state symbol. It was adopted after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992 and originates from a seal used by Volodymyr the Great, ruler of the Kyiv city state 1,000 years ago.

The statue’s shield originally bore the Soviet Union’s coat of arms - a crossed hammer and sickle surrounded by ears of wheat.

In late July, workers used cables to lower dismantled parts of the coat of arms to the ground. On Saturday, they began installing the 1,100lb (500 kg) trident on the shield but were unable to complete the work due to adverse weather and an air attack warning for the capital.

Including its base, the 42-year-old monument stands 102m tall, slightly larger than Big Ben.

It was erected as a symbol of Ukraine’s place under Moscow’s rule and to promote the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

Since the 2014 revolution which overthrew president Viktor Yanukovich, who was accused of being a Kremlin stooge, Ukraine has pushed to “de-Russify” the country by promoting its own culture, language and historical heroes.

The process accelerated after the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.

The moves have been met with dismay in Moscow, which criticised the changes to the statue in Kyiv.

“Mother cannot be renamed. She is unique and the only thing you can do with her is love her,” said Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman.

The Kremlin has used Soviet insignia heavily to promote its war in Ukraine. Its soldiers planted red Soviet-style victory flags in villages and towns they conquered last year and it regularly invokes the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany to drum up support.