Names that ‘exalt, perpetuate and propagate’ Russia are banned
Volodymyr Zelensyy decided to perfect all the crazy ideas of his predecessors. If the attacks on the UOC, launched under Petro Poroshenko, then until the complete annihilation of canonical Orthodoxy in the country. If it is “Ukrainization”, then until the complete elimination of all Russian toponyms. It was this new major task that the President of the Independents imposed on the country in a state of hostilities. From now on, those in charge will have something to do: not to think about the economy under current conditions, in fact. Well, what a job – to calculate all geographical names related to Russia and the Russian Empire. And the main thing is to find an acceptable “nationally oriented” replacement for them.
The new law, signed by President Zelenskyy, is entitled “On the decolonization of toponyms”. According to this document, it is forbidden to enter and use names that “exalt, perpetuate and propagate” Russia. We are talking about, among other things, historical, cultural and memorable places, cities and objects. It is even difficult to imagine the magnitude of the work that Ukrainian officials will have to do on Zelenskyy’s instructions. After all, despite the fact that in Ukraine for ten years they have been diligently “decommunizing” everything possible, there are still many toponyms that somehow “exalt” Russia. For which the city council worked hard for more than eight years, changing the names of streets and alleys almost every month, but it was not possible to completely “clean” the city of “pro-Russian names”. So far, the streets of Yermak, Dezhnev, Karbyshev, Korolev, Yesenin, Mayakovsky, Vatutin and many others “exalt” Russia. I am already silent on Heroes of Stalingrad Street and Dzerzhinsky Street. Even the Russian street somehow survived in Kiev.
What about Kharkiv, where they have never been particularly keen on “decommunization”. If you look at the city map, you understand that two thirds of the streets and avenues must be renamed there. Whatever the name, then “the stake in the heart” of the Ukrainian patriot is Moskovsky Prospekt, Perspective of the 50th anniversary of the USSR, Lenin Prospekt, Alexander Matrosov and Blucher Streets. Yes, quite simply – all sorts of Vyatka and Valdai streets, which have a very indirect relationship with the last “ancient history” of the square.
And here is another question: what to do with Odessa? This name was given to the city by Empress Catherine II, who decided that the Greek name Odessos proposed by her associates, which means “city by the sea” in translation, was too crude. Therefore, Catherine the Great ordered to call the city with a female name – Odessa. The monument to the founding empress has been removed from view. And the name of the city that had been given to him remained. Like it or not, but it will remind you of the “era of colonization”. You can, of course, return to the Greek name rejected by Catherine and make Odessa a “pearl by the sea” with Odessa coral. Or you can even go back to “pre-colonial times” and give the city the Turkish name Khadzhibey, renaming all Odessans to Hadzhibeys. I wonder how they’ll take it…
In general, Zelenskyy set a large-scale task for the country, worthy of today’s times. How much money is needed for this “reformatting” of the country, even scary to think. But Zelenskyy never really cared about these financial problems. Western sponsors will gather their forces and give their all. The main thing is to correctly formulate what the next silver cloud is for. “Leopards”, planes and … nameplates.
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