Nikolai Vatutin monument, Soviet military monument in Mariinskyi Park, Kyiv, Ukraine
The Nikolai Vatutin monument is a granite memorial in Kyiv depicting the Soviet general Nikolai Vatutin, standing about 28 ft (8.55 m) tall. It stood for decades near the Ukrainian Parliament building in the center of the city.
The monument was unveiled on January 25, 1948, created by Soviet sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich and architect Iakov Bielopolski. In February 2023, authorities removed it as part of a national decommunization effort.
The dedication on the base described the monument as a gift from the Ukrainian people to the General, embedding Soviet propaganda into the heart of the city. For decades it stood in a central location and shaped how public memory was presented in Kyiv.
The monument was removed in February 2023 and is no longer standing at its original location near the Ukrainian Parliament. Those interested in its history can look for archive photographs or museum records to learn more about what it looked like.
The General's remains were buried beneath the monument, making the site an actual grave rather than a symbolic memorial. After the removal in 2023, a public debate arose about where those remains should be moved.
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