Workers celebrate the installation of the Ukrainian coat of arms on the statue's shield Photo: REUTERS/Valentin Ogirenko
Ukraine installed a trident on the Motherland Monument built in the USSR , which towers over Kiev, replacing the Soviet hammer and sickle emblem in a symbolic break with the past.
The statue of a woman armed with a sword and shield will also be renamed Mother Ukraine and officially re-introduced on Independence Day, August 24, as Kiev struggles to clear public spaces of reminders of Russian imperial rule.
Ukrainians cheered the change as construction workers posed atop the monument early Sunday morning after a 7.60-meter-tall trident was winched into place.< /p>
“Finally, after so many years, this is happening,” Ivan said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I and probably many people have been waiting for a long time, and now we can finally show the Russians that their ideology and nation have no place in Ukraine.”
The Ministry of Culture of Ukraine said that the new trident was made from Ukrainian steel and that its cost of £600,000 was paid for by private business.
The emblem of the Soviet Union is depicted on the monument. Photo: SERGEY SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images
The trident is the state symbol of Ukraine. It was adopted after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992 and comes from the seal used by Volodymyr the Great, the ruler of the Kiev city-state 1000 years ago.
The shield of the statue originally depicted the coat of arms of the Soviet Union – a crossed hammer and sickle surrounded by ears of wheat.
At the end of July, workers lowered the dismantled parts of the coat of arms to the ground with the help of cables. On Saturday, they began installing a 1,100-pound (500 kg) trident on the shield, but were unable to complete the work due to adverse weather conditions and a warning of an air attack on the capital.
Including their base, the 42-year-old monument 102 meters high, which is slightly larger than Big Ben.
It was erected as a symbol of the place of Ukraine under the rule of Moscow and in support of the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany in World War II.
After the 2014 revolution in Ukraine that toppled Viktor Yanukovych, who was accused of being a Kremlin puppet, Ukraine pushed to “de-Russification” of the country, promoting its culture, language and historical heroes.
The process has accelerated since the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.
These steps were met with dismay in Moscow, which criticized the changes to the monument in Kiev.
“Mother Ukraine cannot be renamed. She is unique, and the only thing you can do with her is to love her,” said Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Kremlin actively used Soviet insignia to promote its war in Ukraine. His soldiers planted red Soviet-style victory flags in the villages and towns they conquered last year, and he regularly refers to the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany to rally support.
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