Berdiansk has likely the largest number of monuments to the creator of the totalitarian USSR Vladimir Lenin, for there are as many as 13 of them in the city! The largest one stood in Prymorska Square in the city center and sparked a prolonged, heated debate. City councilor Vladyslav Shalieiev twice submitted to the city council the draft resolution on dismantling the main monument, and found neither support from the local executive nor the required number of councilors’ votes on both occasions. A suggestion was also made to create a museum of the totalitarian regime where all Soviet memorabilia would be collected, so as not to infringe on the interests of citizens who still respect the theorist of communism.
However, the main monument in Prymorska Square was demolished early on January 28. According to witnesses, two cars stopped there, and camouflaged armed men poured out of them. They tied ropes to the monument and fastened them to a car. When the monument fell, the unknown gunmen got into the cars, shouting “Glory to Ukraine!”, and disappeared. The Lenin statue is now stored at a municipal facility, and its further fate is unknown. Police have refused to comment so far.
“Lenin was an occupier, an aggressor, a destroyer of Ukrainian statehood. My attitude to this historical person has not changed for several decades. The Lenin monument in Berdiansk has ceased to be a place for the elderly to gather and express their appreciation for the man. It is a focal point of Russian fascism now, because separatists hold their illegal gatherings under the Russian flags there. Still, I have always opposed vandalism, such monuments should be dismantled peacefully,” city councilor Vladyslav Shalieiev commented. The local authorities have carefully avoided commenting on the issue. Mayor Oleksii Bakai only said that his stance would be influenced by the community’s opinion, and it was Berdiansk citizens who should decide what to do with the demolished monument.
As we learned later on, activists began to dismantle another monument to Vladimir Ulyanov, which stood near the Azovkabel plant, after midday on January 28. The mayor learned about it from the media and was clearly surprised.
