Head of Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance proposes new monuments to Skoropadsky and Petliura for central Kyiv memorial arteries

The head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance proposes replacing Soviet monuments in Kyiv with figures from the UPR and Ukrainian State.

By: AXL Media

Published: Mar 4, 2026, 5:44 AM EST

Source: The information in this article was sourced from Interfax-Ukraine

Strategic reorganization of Shevchenko Boulevard

The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance is advocating for a significant reconfiguration of the memorial landmarks situated along Shevchenko Boulevard. Oleksandr Alforov, the institute's head, suggests that the boulevard should serve as a central "artery of memorialization" that unites key figures of the Ukrainian State and the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UPR). Under this plan, the empty pedestals that once held Vladimir Lenin and Mykola Shchors would be repurposed to host leaders who fought for Ukrainian independence in the early 20th century. This shift is intended to align the city's physical geography with its modern national identity.

New monuments for historic pedestals

According to the proposal, a monument to Symon Petliura, the Head of the Directorate of the UPR, would be erected at the site of the former Shchors monument. This statue would notably face Petliura Street, which leads to the city's central railway station, creating a symbolic visual link. At the opposite end of the boulevard, on the site where the Lenin monument formerly stood, Alforov proposes a statue of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky. With the existing Mykhailo Hrushevsky monument situated between these two locations, the boulevard would effectively represent a unified timeline of the diverse political movements that shaped the short-lived Ukrainian independence of 1917–1921.

Pedestrian zones and the Museum of Independence

The memorialization strategy extends beyond Shevchenko Boulevard to include the Square of Ukrainian Heroes and Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti). Alforov supports making the line from the Square of Ukrainian Heroes to European Square a pedestrian zone to encourage deeper public engagement with these historical sites. Furthermore, he proposed utilizing the glass amphitheater space of the Globus shopping center at Maidan to house the Museum of the War for Ukraine’s Independence. This move would provide a central, high-visibility location to educate both citizens and visitors on the ongoing and historical struggles for national sovereignty.