All that’s left is a concrete pad. The statue of Maxime Gorky, a former member of the Soviet elite, was enthroned there, in the middle of a large park of Vinnytsia: it was dismantled at the end of March, but not destroyed. “I am a historian by training, I know how to treat monuments!”, defends Serhiy Morgounov, the mayor of Vinnytsia. Indeed, the statue is now stored in the museum of totalitarian regimes, a few kilometers away.
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In this city in mourning, after the death of 26 people – including several children – killed in mid-July by Russian missiles, derussification is underway. A way to erase the traces of this aggressor country.
“Ukraine has been under the control of Russia for almost 350 years, and during all this time the Ukrainian people have been forcibly Russified.”
Serhiy Morgounov, mayor of Vinnytsiaat franceinfo
According to the mayor, naming streets after local personalities is essential for the common memory and culture: “Whether in Ukraine, in France, in Germany, each city or each region has its own heroes or personalities. The inhabitants of these cities want to commemorate them by naming streets and squares after them or by erecting monuments.” It is also a way of recovering after years of totalitarianism, the traces of which still persisted. “The Soviet Union censored these figures. It was forbidden to commemorate them, and on the contrary, they imposed the names of foreign figures who have no connection with Ukraine.”
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The example that best illustrates this forced Russification during the Soviet era is the name of Maxim Gorky: “In almost every Ukrainian capital there was a park with a monument to Gorkyexplains Serhiy Morgounov. However, he never came to Vinnystia, neither to the region, nor even to Ukraine! So conversely, he wants to highlight the name of a local artist: “Here we have a composer and poet, Mykola Leontovytch, who comes from the Vinnytsia region. He has composed world famous music! What do you think ? Are we going to name Gorki Park or Leontovych?
After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, almost 20 streets changed names in Vinnytsia. A process of de-Russification which has accelerated since February throughout the country. In June, the parliament even passed a project where from January 1, it will be forbidden to sell books in Russian or written by contemporary Russian authors. A decision that is not necessarily to the taste of all the inhabitants.
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Pour Oksana Lobousnova, bookseller in the city center of Vinnytsia, everyone should be free to their tastes: “The reader should be able to take a book, leaf through it, compare which language is more comfortable for him. If he likes to read in Ukrainian, he buys the Ukrainian text. If he prefers it in Russian, he takes the Russian translation. “
“If the author has good philosophical ideas, if he publishes a beautiful poem, or if he has beautiful prose, why can’t we read it? Because we are at war with this country? I don’t do not agree.”
Oksana Lobousnova, booksellerat franceinfo
For this bill to be passed, all that is missing is as the signature of Volodymyr Zelensky. Since the first month of the war, five additional streets in Vinnystia have had their names changed. For example, the street Moscow became Mariupol Street. The town hall also received proposals for renaming 87 streets from residents. A commission is due to look into the matter in August.