Derussification in Ukraine (Ukrainian: Дерусифікація/деросіянізація в Україні, romanized: Derusyfikatsiia/derosiianizatsiia v Ukraïni) is a process of removing Russian influence from the post-Soviet country of Ukraine. This derussification started after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and intensified with the demolition of monuments to Lenin during Euromaidan in 2014 and the further systemic process of decommunization in Ukraine. The Russo-Ukrainian War gave a strong impetus to the process. Along with decommunization, derussification has been described as one of the components of a larger process of decolonization in Ukraine.[1]
The process manifests itself in the renaming of toponyms named after Russian statesmen and cultural figures, or those that are believed to reflect Russianism and the Russian worldview, or are otherwise associated with Russia. Also part of the process is the dismantling of objects of the Russian rule (e.g., plaques, signs, monuments, busts, and panels). As of April 8, 2022, according to a poll by the sociological group Rating, 76% of Ukrainians support the initiative to rename streets and other objects whose names are associated with Russia.[2][3]
In March 2023, the Ukrainian parliament passed the Law of Ukraine "On Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and Decolonization of Toponymy" , which forbade toponymy associated with Russia.[4] On April 21, 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the law.[5] This law prohibits toponymy that symbolizes or glorifies Russia, individuals who carried out aggression against Ukraine (or another country), as well as totalitarian policies and practices related to the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, including Ukrainians living in Russian-occupied territories. A series of toponyms have already been renamed based on this law. [5]
The process began with the collapse of the Soviet Union, but since the issue of decommunization was a much bigger problem, derussification received relatively little attention, after 2014, the two processes were closely intertwined and initially they took place mostly in a spontaneous and unsystematic way. As the decommunization process in Ukraine had almost been completed by 2022, the derussification process intensified after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In villages and towns, street names were changed and Soviet-Russian monuments were demolished.[6] Not only architectural structures, but also street names related to Russia were de-Russified. Changes were made in Lviv, Dnipro,[7] Kyiv[8] and Kharkiv. Ivano-Frankivsk became the first city in Ukraine to be completely free of Russian place names.[9]
In June 2022, the city of Kyiv held an electronic consultation to select Ukrainian names with which to rename streets and squares bearing Russian names. 6.5 million Ukrainians took part in the consultation.[10]
Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko stated that the derussification of Ukraine will take place naturally[11] and that "it's time to say goodbye to the symbols of the Russian-imperial, Soviet ideology forever."[12] He also noted that the Government of Ukraine approved the project of the document "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Protection of Cultural Heritage": there will be legal grounds for the removal of cultural heritage monuments from the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine, which is a symbol of the Russian imperial and Soviet totalitarian politics and ideology.[12]
On April 21, 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the Law of Ukraine "On Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and Decolonization of Toponymy" .[5] This law prohibits toponymy that symbolizes or glorifies Russia and the USSR, their memorial sites, dates, events, individuals who carried out aggression against Ukraine (or another country), as well as totalitarian policies and practices of the Soviet Union and Russia, including Ukrainians in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.[5]
Further information: List of Ukrainian toponyms that were changed as part of derussification |