The Institute of National Memory of Ukraine has put forward a demand for the dismantling of the former Arch of Friendship of Peoples, located in the center of Kyiv. According to representatives of the Institute, this building is a symbol of Russian imperial policy, which threatens the national security of Ukraine.
The expert commission of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance on determining whether objects belong to the symbols of Russian imperial policy came to the conclusion that the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People, which until 2022 was called the Arch of Friendship of Peoples, should be demolished, because it represents Soviet ideologues and connotations and constitutes a threat to the national security of Ukraine. This was reported by the press service of the UINP.
"The Arch of Friendship of Peoples, located in Khreschaty Park in Kyiv, dedicated to events related to the implementation of Russian imperial policy and its glorification (installed in 1982 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the formation of the USSR and the 65th anniversary of the October Revolution of 1917), belongs to symbols of Russian imperial policy and is subject to complete dismantling," the message reads.
The UINP expert commission noted that despite the fact that the object was renamed to the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People in May 2022, and despite the fact that in April 2022 the Soviet workers' monument near the arch was dismantled, the building represents Soviet ideologues and connotations, therefore it poses a threat to the national security of Ukraine .
We will remind you that in November 2018, the installation "The Crack of Friendship" was made on the arch, dedicated to the Ukrainian political prisoners of the Kremlin, in particular to the director Oleh Sentsov, who joined the ranks of the Armed Forces after the start of the full-scale invasion.
On March 27, the court ordered the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP) to return to the state property the object of cultural heritage of national importance - the ancient temple of the times of Kyivan Rus - the Assumption Cathedral.
