Kyiv, Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law that forbids renaming Ukrainian geographic locations after Russian individuals or historical occasions connected to Russian aggression, reported Kyiv Independent. The legislation which was signed on 21 April is a part of bigger "de-Russification" initiatives in response to Russia's full-blown invasion of Ukraine that is continuing to wage on for over a year now. The law which is titled "On Geographical Names," seeks to tackle the "decolonization of toponymy."

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According to the legislation, it is forbidden to give locations names that "glorify, perpetuate, promote, or symbolise" Russia or its "prominent, memorable, historical and cultural places, cities, dates, events, and figures who carried out military aggression against Ukraine and other sovereign countries."  

Additionally, it prohibits the use of geographic indicators that were connected to "state totalitarian policies and practises related to the persecution of opposition figures, dissidents, and other persons" who opposed "totalitarian Soviet and totalitarian Russian regimes."

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Euromaidan Revolution

This movement of changing Russian place names gathered steam during the Euromaidan Revolution in 2014. Streets named after Russians or Soviet history have been renamed. Monuments of historical Russian individuals have been demolished. 

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Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Kremlin president, assumed office in 2010. He declined to ratify the Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013. His reluctance to ratify the accord provoked demonstrations across Ukraine. The biggest demonstrations were held in Kyiv on Independence Square, also known as Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Ukrainian.

Yanukovych fled to Russia when the protests turned into a revolution that lasted until February 2014. By overthrowing the pro-Kremlin government, Ukrainians got to decide how they wanted their country to develop in the future, including changing place names from Russian to Ukrainian. 

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Over 100,000 Kyiv citizens voted in January of this year to change the names of two metro stations in the city. One was from "Friendship of Peoples" (Druzhby Narodiv in Ukrainian) to "Zvirynetska," the area's historical name, and from "Lva Tolstoho," which was named after the Russian author Lev Tolstoi, to "Ukrainian Heroes Square."

Russian Poet Alexander Pushkin's memorials were demolished in the spring of 2017 from places including Mykolaiv port city, Ternopil, and the western Zakarpattia Oblast.

Similar to this, a monument commemorating the Russian Empress Catherine II was demolished in Odesa on December 28. This was done following an online vote by locals.

The statue was built in 1900 when Odessa was a part of the Russian Empire. For years, activists have petitioned to have it taken down. 

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