The monument to the "founders of Odessa" with the figure of Catherine II in the center, as well as the monument to the commander Alexander Suvorov in Odessa, will still be demolished. The city council on its Telegram channel announced that it approved the decision to dismantle.
For the demolition of the monument to the Empress, 43 out of 44 deputies voted, for the dismantling of the monument to Suvorov – 41.
Both monuments will be transferred to the Odessa Art Museum for temporary storage. The mayor of the city, Gennady Trukhanov, writes the newspaper "Suspilne", recalled his proposal to create a "park of the imperial past" in the city. These monuments can be sent there, he noted.
“I am sure that a single park complex of the “imperial and Soviet past” should be created in Odessa, where part of the architectural monuments should be moved,” Trukhanov said in September.
Initially, they wanted to give the monuments to public utilities that manage cemeteries and fountains.
In August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the Odessa city council to consider dismantling the monument to Catherine II in connection with a petition from residents. The petition proposed to replace the monument with a monument to American porn actor Billy Herrington. Zelensky said it was important to protect national interests and clear public space of objects and monuments "concerning Russian imperial and Soviet heritage, which perpetuates Russian anti-Ukrainian propaganda narratives in Ukraine."
In September, the monument to the empress was doused with red paint, later a red cap was put on her head, and a rope loop was put into her hand. To dismantle the monument began to prepare in early November. The monument was wrapped in black cellophane and surrounded by a fence.
The monument to the "founders of Odessa" – Catherine II and her associates Jose de Ribas, Franz de Volan, princes Grigory Potemkin and Platon Zubov – was erected in 1900. In 1920, after the establishment of Soviet power in the country, the monument was demolished. The idea of recreating the monument was returned only at the end of the century. In 2007, the pro-Russian City Council of Odessa decided to erect the monument again, although the then President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko was against it. “I only have a request – do not open the monument to Peter the Great or whoever is next. Let's respect our history, let's remember that we are Ukrainians," he said.