Installation of Ukrainian Tryzub on shield of Kyiv’s ‘Motherland’ monument begins, delayed by windy weather
The installation of a giant metal Tryzub (trident) symbol on the shield of the “Motherland” monument in Kyiv got underway on Aug. 5, an NV correspondent observing work to remodel the giant statue reported.
A representative from the company
responsible for installing the Tryzub stated that the emblem’s lifting had been
expected to take place today after 6 p.m. However, gusty winds are currently
hindering the work, leading to a postponement of the raising of the Tryzub.
The lifting process is projected to last
about 15-20 minutes, with an additional three hours required for securing the Tryzub
to the shield borne by the giant statue.
Previously, workers dismantled the symbol
that had been on the shield since the monument was completed in 1981 – the
crest of the Soviet Union, including the Hammer and Sickle symbol, which is
banned in Ukraine except on monuments to the Second World War.
However, on May 3, 2023, Ukraine’s
parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed a law allowing the dismantling of Soviet
and imperial cultural monuments. Subsequently, on July 13, the State Inspection
of Architecture and Urban Planning issued a permit to replace the Soviet emblem
on the monument’s shield with the Ukrainian Tryzub.
The Ministry of Culture announced on July
26 that preparations for the removal of the USSR emblem from the monument had
begun. The entire funding for the project was provided by philanthropists, with
the total estimated cost being UAH 28 million ($764,000).
The Soviet coat of arms, the sickle, and
hammer, were removed from the “Motherland” monument’s shield on Aug. 1. This
move comes after a vote held on the widely-used
Diia government e-service application last summer in 2022 regarding the
future of the Soviet emblem on the “Motherland” Monument.
Almost all participants in the vote
expressed their desire to replace it with the Coat of Arms of the independent
state of Ukraine.
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