During a full-scale war, the dismantling of the Peoples' Friendship Arch in Kyiv is irrelevant, as all available resources should be concentrated on the Armed Forces. This opinion was expressed by historian and deputy director of the Institute of History of Ukraine Hennadiy Boryak to UNN.
Of course, it all needs to be demolished, destroyed, but not now, when we are at war. I believe that now we need to concentrate all available resources on the Armed Forces, not waste them on various similar projects. That is, today, in my deep conviction, the project related to any actions around the Arch is irrelevant
Commenting on the appropriateness of the dismantling of the Arch of Friendship of Peoples, Ilya Levchenko, a historian at the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, said that the demolition or destruction of works of art, which is often associated with "decommunization," does not free us from colonialism.
"First of all, I am not talking about dismantling the Arch of Friendship of Peoples, but about a critical rethinking of Soviet concepts (like 'friendship of peoples') and the works of art that embodied, supported and/or disseminated them. The demolition or destruction of works of art, which is what we often associate with "decommunization," does not free us from colonialism, does not allow us to finally get even with this past as something that does not directly affect us," Levchenko said.
The historian also believes that the path of analysis, criticism, including artistic criticism, of the Soviet heritage is more productive.
"We destroy material remains in the hope of forgetting, avoiding, and passing over complex issues of our history and identity, but concepts and ideologies are broader and more welcoming than material culture. That is why I find the path of analysis, criticism, including artistic criticism, of the Soviet heritage productive. Renaming the "friendship of peoples" to "freedom of the Ukrainian people" is a radical way to preserve this arch through renaming. If the 'freedom of the Ukrainian people' is structurally, semantically, and materially consistent with the Soviet 'friendship of peoples', then such a renaming is appropriate," Levchenko believes.
Context
The Institute of National Memory advises to dismantle the Arch of Friendship of Peoples in Kyiv.
In May 2022, the Kyiv City Council decided to decommunize the name of the Arch of Friendship of Peoples. It was renamed the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People.