Ukraine: the statue of Catherine II unbolted in Odessa

Workers unbolt the statue of Russian Empress Catherine II in the center of Odessa, southern Ukraine, on December 29, 2022. © OLEKSANDR GIMANOV / AFP

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It was a small revolution that took place in Odessa on the night of Wednesday December 28 to Thursday December 29, with the removal of the statue of the Russian Empress Catherine II, in the city center.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the sovereign had become the symbol of the Russian imperial heritage, massively denounced today in Ukraine.

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With our correspondent in Kiev

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Catherine the Great, the founder of the modern city of Odessa in the 18th century, when Russia conquered and colonized the once Tatar and Ottoman Black Sea rim.

The statue of Tsarina Catherine II was one of the emblems of the historic city of Odessa, along with the Potemkin stairs.

Put down during the Soviet period, it had been reassembled in 2007, but in recent years, the figure of the Russian sovereign was perceived negatively in Ukraine, because it was considered responsible for the liquidation of the Ukrainian Cossack state and colonization in the present-day southern Ukraine.

In the summer of 2022, a democratic municipal consultation took place in Odessa, a few months after the start of Vladimir Putin's invasion of the country.

A large majority of the Odessites questioned then declared themselves in favor of the dismantling of the monument of the foundress of their city in modern times.

The statue of Russian Empress Catherine II unbolted in Odessa, December 29, 2022 © OLEKSANDR GIMANOV / AFP

Wednesday evening, December 28, a few chisel blows and a crane made this wish come true, and the statue of Catherine II, as well as that of the Russian general Alexander Suvorov, should eventually join a museum.

In recent weeks, everywhere in Ukraine, there has also been a wave of street name changes.

Thus, in kyiv, Dostoïevski and Turgenev streets have just disappeared.

►Also read: International Report - War in Ukraine: a changing identity for the inhabitants of Odessa

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