The Ministry of Culture of Ukraine recognized the former Peopleʼs Friendship Arch (for now known as The Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People) in Kyiv as not subject to entry into the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine. The monument has lost its status as a monument of history and can now be dismantled.
This was reported by the Ministry of Culture.
The Peoplesʼ Friendship Arch in Kyiv was created for the 60th anniversary of the formation of the USSR and was solemnly opened on the eve of the 65th anniversary of the October Revolution of 1917. The expert commission of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance believes that the Arch is a symbol of Russian imperial policy and should be completely dismantled. Despite being renamed the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People, the monument represents only Soviet connotations.
In addition, the commission emphasizes that the myth embodied in the monument about the "reunification" of two supposedly fraternal peoples does not correspond to historical realities. In the conditions of the Russian Federationʼs large-scale invasion of Ukraine, this myth is actively used to substantiate the "legality" of Putinʼs territorial claims.
"In the public consciousness of the people of Kyiv, the monument is identified with the Soviet regime, it is not by chance that residents of the capital call it the ʼyokeʼ. By getting rid of the monumental ʼyokeʼ, we are freeing ourselves from the remnants of the Soviet dictatorship and Russian imperial influence," said Acting Minister of Culture Rostyslav Karandeev.
- On April 26, 2022, a bronze sculpture of two workers began to be dismantled under the Arch of Friendship of Peoples — it was installed in 1982 "to commemorate the reunification of Ukraine with Russia."
- In May 2022, the Arch of Friendship of Peoples was renamed the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People.
- In April 2024, in response to an inquiry by the BBC, the Kyiv City State Administration stated that it did not plan to demolish or move the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People (the former Peoplesʼ Friendship Arch). This was explained by the fact that the arch is a monument of local history.