Ukrainian researcher
Volodymyr Yermolenko claimed that Russian literature has been a "vehicle of the country’s imperial project and nationalist world-view," giving as examples Pushkin,
Lermontov and
Gogol.[1] He mentioned Pushkin's poem Poltava, which recounts the revolt of
Ukrainian CossackhetmanIvan Mazepa against Tsar
Peter the Great during the
Swedish invasion of Russia and portrays Mazepa – who had sided with the invading Swedes – as a lecherous traitor.[1] Following the
Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Pushkin's situation turned out to be quite similar to the destruction of monuments to
Lenin known as
Leninopad.[2] The phenomenon was dubbed "Pushkinopad" (Пушкінопад) by Ukrainians, a pun literally translated as "Pushkinfall", with the coinage of "-пад" being akin to English words suffixed with "fall" as in "waterfall", "snowfall", etc.
The first event that became widely known was the dismantling of the monument to Pushkin in
Mukachevo on April 7, 2022.[3] Monuments to the Russian poet were dismantled in
Uzhhorod[4] and
Ternopil on April 9.[5][6]Serhiy Nadal, mayor of Ternopil from the far-right
Svoboda party, commented:
The crimes of Russians against the Ukrainian people: murder, torture of people, rape of women and children, destruction of Ukrainian cities have crossed out the entire culture of the Russian people. There is no explanation for these crimes. They leave us no choice. Everything Russian must be dismantled. Including the monument to the Russian writer.[7]
On March 22, 2022, a resident of
Ternopil painted a Pushkin monument red and wrote "stop war" on it. In Ternopil, the monument to the poet was erected in 1961. The first initiatives to demolish it appeared in 2014, after the start of the
Russo-Ukrainian War.[8]
On April 7, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was demolished in
Mukachevo. The very next day, the
Uzhhorod City Council also decided to dismantle the monument to Alexander Pushkin[9]
On April 19, 2022, in
Kropyvnytskyi, they proposed to remove the monument to Pushkin, which currently stands near the Pedagogical University.[11] The monument was dismantled on July 8, 2022.[12]
On April 26, 2022, a monument to Alexander Pushkin was torn down in the village of Pushkino in the
Berehove Raion of the
Zakarpattia Oblast, and meetings began to rename the village.[13]
On April 28, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was dismantled in
Konotop. The head was torn off during the dismantling of the monument.[14]
On April 30, 2022, a Pushkin monument was destroyed in
Chernihiv.[15]
On May 5, 2022, a memorial plaque to Pushkin was dismantled in
Vinnytsia.[16]
On May 21, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was dismantled in
Mykolaiv.[18]
On June 1, 2022, a monument to Alexander Pushkin was damaged in
Nikopol.[19]
On June 3, 2022, the "Ukrainian People's House" society proposed to remove the bust of Pushkin from the building of the
Olha Kobylyanska Drama Theater in
Chernivtsi and replace it with the bust of
Yurii Fedkovych. The director of the theater supported the proposal but stressed that all legal requirements and regulations had to be met before removing the bust.[20]
On June 16, 2022, a working group of the
Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine decided to remove more than 40 works by Soviet and Russian authors, including Alexander Pushkin, from school textbooks.[21]
On July 26, 2022, a bust of Pushkin was dismantled in
Zaporizhzhia. The bust made of forged copper stood in the city for more than 20 years and was dismantled with the permission of the mayor's office.[22]
On September 1, 2022, a bust of Pushkin was dismantled in
Kyiv on the territory of gymnasium No. 153 (named after Pushkin).[23]
On October 11, 2022, unknown persons dismantled the second bust of Pushkin in front of the National Transport University in
Kyiv. The co-founder of the "
Decommunization Ukraine" project said that the dismantling was dedicated to Lieutenant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Denys Antipov, alias "Buk" – a well-known public activist, teacher of the Korean language at the
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, who had died in May 2022 in a battle with Russian invaders.[24]
On November 9, 2022, a bust of Pushkin, which stood on Poetry Maidan in
Kharkiv, was dismantled and sent for safekeeping. The Kharkiv City Council stated that this monument, and possibly others, should be preserved, but the residents will decide this issue in peacetime.[25][26][27]
On November 11, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was dismantled in
Zhytomyr.[28]
On November 11, 2022, a monument to Pushkin in the city of
Zhmerynka was dismantled.
On November 16, 2022, Pushkin Avenue in
Dnipro was renamed
Lesia Ukrainka Avenue.[29] A monument to Pushkin that stood there was dismantled on December 16, 2022.[29]
On November 17, 2022, a statue of Pushkin was dismantled in
Chernivtsi.[30]
On November 20, 2022, unknown persons overthrew a bust of Pushkin in
Nikopol.[31]
On November 21, 2022, a monument to Pushkin in
Kremenchuk was dismantled.[32]
On November 29, 2022, a memorial plaque to Pushkin was dismantled in
Mykolaiv.[33]
On November 29, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was dismantled in
Ananiv.[34]
On December 9, 2022, the monument to Pushkin in the city of
Tulchyn was dismantled.[35]
The monument to Pushkin in the
Dnipro was dismantled on December 16, 2022.[35]
On December 23, 2022, the second sculpture of Pushkin was dismantled in the city of
Chernivtsi.[36]
On December 24, 2022, it was dismantled in the city of
Krolevets.[37]
On December 27, 2022, the bust of Pushkin was dismantled from the facade of the Chernivtsi Drama Theater named after Olha Kobylianska.[38]
On December 29, 2022, the bust was dismantled in
Polonne.[39]
On December 29, 2022, the second memorial plaque to Pushkin was dismantled in the city of
Mykolaiv.[citation needed]
On December 30, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was dismantled in
Kramatorsk.[40]
In April 2023, the
Poltava City Council voted to dismantle the monument to Pushkin in this city.[41] Also in April 2023, "Pushkin Park" was renamed "Family Park" in
Kramatorsk.[42]
On May 3, 2023, (in its second reading) the
Verkhovna Rada adopted the law "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine On the Protection of Cultural Heritage" which legalized the removal of "Soviet and imperial cultural monuments" from the state register.[43]
On July 13, 2023, Pushkin Park in Kyiv was renamed
Ivan Bahrianyi Park.[44] On 15 November 2023 the monument to Pushkin that had remained in the park was dismantled.[45]
On 23 October 2023 a theater in Kharkiv that was named after Pushkin dropped his mentioning in its name and was renamed to Kharkiv Academic Drama Theater.[46]
Ukrainian researcher
Volodymyr Yermolenko claimed that Russian literature has been a "vehicle of the country’s imperial project and nationalist world-view," giving as examples Pushkin,
Lermontov and
Gogol.[1] He mentioned Pushkin's poem Poltava, which recounts the revolt of
Ukrainian CossackhetmanIvan Mazepa against Tsar
Peter the Great during the
Swedish invasion of Russia and portrays Mazepa – who had sided with the invading Swedes – as a lecherous traitor.[1] Following the
Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Pushkin's situation turned out to be quite similar to the destruction of monuments to
Lenin known as
Leninopad.[2] The phenomenon was dubbed "Pushkinopad" (Пушкінопад) by Ukrainians, a pun literally translated as "Pushkinfall", with the coinage of "-пад" being akin to English words suffixed with "fall" as in "waterfall", "snowfall", etc.
The first event that became widely known was the dismantling of the monument to Pushkin in
Mukachevo on April 7, 2022.[3] Monuments to the Russian poet were dismantled in
Uzhhorod[4] and
Ternopil on April 9.[5][6]Serhiy Nadal, mayor of Ternopil from the far-right
Svoboda party, commented:
The crimes of Russians against the Ukrainian people: murder, torture of people, rape of women and children, destruction of Ukrainian cities have crossed out the entire culture of the Russian people. There is no explanation for these crimes. They leave us no choice. Everything Russian must be dismantled. Including the monument to the Russian writer.[7]
On March 22, 2022, a resident of
Ternopil painted a Pushkin monument red and wrote "stop war" on it. In Ternopil, the monument to the poet was erected in 1961. The first initiatives to demolish it appeared in 2014, after the start of the
Russo-Ukrainian War.[8]
On April 7, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was demolished in
Mukachevo. The very next day, the
Uzhhorod City Council also decided to dismantle the monument to Alexander Pushkin[9]
On April 19, 2022, in
Kropyvnytskyi, they proposed to remove the monument to Pushkin, which currently stands near the Pedagogical University.[11] The monument was dismantled on July 8, 2022.[12]
On April 26, 2022, a monument to Alexander Pushkin was torn down in the village of Pushkino in the
Berehove Raion of the
Zakarpattia Oblast, and meetings began to rename the village.[13]
On April 28, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was dismantled in
Konotop. The head was torn off during the dismantling of the monument.[14]
On April 30, 2022, a Pushkin monument was destroyed in
Chernihiv.[15]
On May 5, 2022, a memorial plaque to Pushkin was dismantled in
Vinnytsia.[16]
On May 21, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was dismantled in
Mykolaiv.[18]
On June 1, 2022, a monument to Alexander Pushkin was damaged in
Nikopol.[19]
On June 3, 2022, the "Ukrainian People's House" society proposed to remove the bust of Pushkin from the building of the
Olha Kobylyanska Drama Theater in
Chernivtsi and replace it with the bust of
Yurii Fedkovych. The director of the theater supported the proposal but stressed that all legal requirements and regulations had to be met before removing the bust.[20]
On June 16, 2022, a working group of the
Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine decided to remove more than 40 works by Soviet and Russian authors, including Alexander Pushkin, from school textbooks.[21]
On July 26, 2022, a bust of Pushkin was dismantled in
Zaporizhzhia. The bust made of forged copper stood in the city for more than 20 years and was dismantled with the permission of the mayor's office.[22]
On September 1, 2022, a bust of Pushkin was dismantled in
Kyiv on the territory of gymnasium No. 153 (named after Pushkin).[23]
On October 11, 2022, unknown persons dismantled the second bust of Pushkin in front of the National Transport University in
Kyiv. The co-founder of the "
Decommunization Ukraine" project said that the dismantling was dedicated to Lieutenant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Denys Antipov, alias "Buk" – a well-known public activist, teacher of the Korean language at the
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, who had died in May 2022 in a battle with Russian invaders.[24]
On November 9, 2022, a bust of Pushkin, which stood on Poetry Maidan in
Kharkiv, was dismantled and sent for safekeeping. The Kharkiv City Council stated that this monument, and possibly others, should be preserved, but the residents will decide this issue in peacetime.[25][26][27]
On November 11, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was dismantled in
Zhytomyr.[28]
On November 11, 2022, a monument to Pushkin in the city of
Zhmerynka was dismantled.
On November 16, 2022, Pushkin Avenue in
Dnipro was renamed
Lesia Ukrainka Avenue.[29] A monument to Pushkin that stood there was dismantled on December 16, 2022.[29]
On November 17, 2022, a statue of Pushkin was dismantled in
Chernivtsi.[30]
On November 20, 2022, unknown persons overthrew a bust of Pushkin in
Nikopol.[31]
On November 21, 2022, a monument to Pushkin in
Kremenchuk was dismantled.[32]
On November 29, 2022, a memorial plaque to Pushkin was dismantled in
Mykolaiv.[33]
On November 29, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was dismantled in
Ananiv.[34]
On December 9, 2022, the monument to Pushkin in the city of
Tulchyn was dismantled.[35]
The monument to Pushkin in the
Dnipro was dismantled on December 16, 2022.[35]
On December 23, 2022, the second sculpture of Pushkin was dismantled in the city of
Chernivtsi.[36]
On December 24, 2022, it was dismantled in the city of
Krolevets.[37]
On December 27, 2022, the bust of Pushkin was dismantled from the facade of the Chernivtsi Drama Theater named after Olha Kobylianska.[38]
On December 29, 2022, the bust was dismantled in
Polonne.[39]
On December 29, 2022, the second memorial plaque to Pushkin was dismantled in the city of
Mykolaiv.[citation needed]
On December 30, 2022, a monument to Pushkin was dismantled in
Kramatorsk.[40]
In April 2023, the
Poltava City Council voted to dismantle the monument to Pushkin in this city.[41] Also in April 2023, "Pushkin Park" was renamed "Family Park" in
Kramatorsk.[42]
On May 3, 2023, (in its second reading) the
Verkhovna Rada adopted the law "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine On the Protection of Cultural Heritage" which legalized the removal of "Soviet and imperial cultural monuments" from the state register.[43]
On July 13, 2023, Pushkin Park in Kyiv was renamed
Ivan Bahrianyi Park.[44] On 15 November 2023 the monument to Pushkin that had remained in the park was dismantled.[45]
On 23 October 2023 a theater in Kharkiv that was named after Pushkin dropped his mentioning in its name and was renamed to Kharkiv Academic Drama Theater.[46]