Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed the law “On condemnation and prohibition of propaganda of Russian imperial policy in Ukraine and decolonisation of toponymy,” Ukrainska Pravda reported on April 22, 2023.
What the law bans
The law, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on March 21 and signed on April 21, bans the production, distribution and public use of symbols of Russian imperial policy in Ukraine. These include monuments to people who took part in or promoted Russian imperial policy, place names honouring such figures or Russian cities and other Russian geographic and cultural objects, and the flags and anthems of Russian state entities.
Deadlines
The law takes effect three months after its publication. Local authorities and military administrations will then have six months to remove imperial symbols, dismantle monuments and rename streets, squares and other objects, according to Euromaidan Press. Legal entities, political parties and other organisations with such symbols in their names will have one month to comply.
Settlements with names that do not meet Ukrainian language standards, such as Yuzhnoukrainsk and Sievierodonetsk, must adopt Ukrainian spelling or restore their historical names.
“No more suvorovs and kutuzovs”
Historian and MP Volodymyr Viatrovych said there would be no more names and images in Ukraine dedicated to “suvorovs and kutuzovs,” adding that valuable monuments would be moved to museums.
In 2022 alone, Ukraine renamed 9,859 place names and dismantled 145 monuments, according to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy.
Sources
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