On January 29, Memorial Day of the Heroes of Kruty, at about 21.00, the statue of Grigory Petrovsky, Soviet leader, organiser of the Holodomor in 1930s, in Dnipropetrovsk was dismantled. The monument has been staying on the square in front of the main railway station of the city for 40 years. The activists, who initiated toppling of the statue, had gathered at 18.00 and held a rally.
“This will be the best commemoration of the heroes of Kruty and DAP (Donetsk airport),” said the MP and the member of the presidium of UKROP political council Andriy Denysenko, organizer of the toppling of the monument.
Dismantling of the statue was considered by the activists as the implementation of the Law on decommunization. At first the monument was sawed with a special tool, and then with the use of cargo crane it was toppled to the ground. The fall of Petrovsky statue was accompanied by people’s singing the national anthem of Ukraine.
The statue is almost intact, while dismantling Petrovsky has lost only the lower part of its feet.
The fate of the dismantled monument will be decided by city authorities together with the residents of Dnipropetrovsk.
“It will be taken to the base of one of the municipal enterprises. On Saturday we will try to remove the elements that have remained in order to prevent theft. Together with the residents of Dnipropetrovsk we will choose the place for its dislocation,” said the acting Deputy Mayor Mykola Lysenko.
