Monument to Shchors

Mykola Shchors monument
Shchors monument in Kyiv in 2011
50°26′43″N 30°30′03″E / 50.445278°N 30.50083°E / 50.445278; 30.50083
LocationIntersection of Symona Petliury Street [wikidata] and Taras Shevchenko Boulevard [wikidata] in Kyiv, Ukraine
DesignerSculptors Mykhailo Lysenko, Mykola Sukhodolov, Vasyl Borodai and architects Oleksandr Vlasov and Oleksiy Zavarov[1]
TypeEquestrian statue
MaterialBronze and granite
Height13.8 meter
Beginning date1940
Completion date1954
Opening date1954
Dedicated toMykola Shchors
Dismantled date9 December 2023

The Mykola Shchors monument was an equestrian statue to Red Army commander (and member of the Russian Communist Party) Mykola Shchors erected in 1954, and located at an intersection of Symona Petliury Street [wikidata] and Taras Shevchenko Boulevard [wikidata], Kyiv, Ukraine, that was dismantled on 9 December 2023.

History

Mykola Shchors was a participant in the Russian Civil War serving as Red Army commander, member of the Russian Communist Party. In 1918–1919 he fought against the newly established Ukrainian government of the Ukrainian People's Republic.[2] Later he commanded the Bohunsky regiment, brigade, 1st Soviet Ukrainian division and 44th rifle division against the head of the Ukrainian People's Republic and their Polish allies. Shchors was killed in battle with soldiers of the Ukrainian Galician Army near the Biloshytsi village (near Korosten) in Zhytomyr Oblast on 30 August 1919.[2] Shchors died after receiving a bullet in the back of his head.[2] After being ignored for more than a decade Shchors became a glorified character in the Soviet Union following the mid-1930s.[3][2]

The initiator of the monument had been Joseph Stalin in 1936.[3] In the 1930s (and 1940s and 1950s) the Soviet authorities issued numerous orders to erect monuments to Shchors in many cities in the Soviet Union.[3] Work on this monument began in 1940, but World War II held back the unveiling of the monument to 1954.[3] The monument was unveiled in 1954 specifically for the anniversary of the 300th anniversary of the Pereiaslav Agreement of 1654.[4][2]

The monument was an equestrian statue with a total height of 13.8 meter.[1] The statue was made of bronze and placed on a granite pedestal 6.5 meter high.[1] This pedestal was decorated with a cornice and a frieze with bas-reliefs depicting episodes of the Ukrainian–Soviet War.[1] The monument weighed a reported 7 tons.[5]

Following the February 2014 Revolution of Dignity the authorities planned to dismantle the monument in accordance with the law prohibiting names of Communist origin and Ukrainian nationalists had desecrated the monument (multiple times).[4][2] During the Russian aerial attacks of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine the monuments of Kyiv were sandbagged and protected, the only exception being the monument to Shchors.[6] The monuments was dismantled on 9 December 2023.[7] It was moved to the Ukraine State Aviation Museum.[1]

Gallery

  • Shchors monument in Kyiv in 1961
    Shchors monument in Kyiv in 1961
  • Shchors monument in Kyiv in 2010
    Shchors monument in Kyiv in 2010
  • The monument in Kyiv in 2016
    The monument in Kyiv in 2016
  • The monument in 2022, including graffiti, translating to slogans such as “demolish me completely!” and “butcher”[6]
    The monument in 2022, including graffiti, translating to slogans such as “demolish me completely!” and “butcher”[6]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monument to Mykola Shchors in Kyiv.
  1. ^ a b c d e "In Kyiv, the dismantling of the monument to Mykola Shchors has begun". Istorychna Pravda (in Ukrainian). 9 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Ukrainian Starodubshchyna and Mykola Shchors, who fought against Ukraine. Does he need a monument in Kyiv?". Radio Free Europe (in Ukrainian). 31 October 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d "Monument to Mykola Shchors was dismantled in Kyiv: what will happen to it? Photo". Obozrevatel. 9 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Kyiv starts removing Soviet general's statue as decommunization continues". The New Voice of Ukraine. 9 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Kyiv Removes Monument To Bolshevik Military Commander Shchors". Radio Free Europe. 9 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Sandbag sculpture: how Kyiv is shielding statues from Russian bombs". The Guardian. 18 October 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Ukraine presses ahead with removal of Soviet monuments". Reuters. 9 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.