"Where Lenin fell, Mazepa will stand firm" – Zelenskyy initiates erection of monument to hetman in centre of Kyiv. PHOTO
The site where a statue of Lenin was dismantled over ten years ago could become the location for a new historical symbol. It is here that there are proposals to erect a monument to Ivan Mazepa.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made this announcement during the unveiling of a bust of Ivan Mazepa at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, reports Censor.NET, citing RBC-Ukraine.
Mazepa’s bust at the Lavra
According to him, Ukraine is currently restoring historical justice.
"Today we are righting yet another historical injustice. From now on, here at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a bust of the great Ukrainian and patron of the Lavra – Ivan Mazepa – will stand, quite rightly," noted Zelenskyy.
He also emphasised that it was under Mazepa’s patronage that the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra experienced a period of prosperity, and described the hetman himself as an outstanding statesman, patron of the arts and leader of the Cossack state.
In Zelenskyy’s view, the stature of Ivan Mazepa deserves not only a bust but also a full-scale monument in the capital.
He noted that a symbolic location already exists for this – on Taras Shevchenko Boulevard, where the statue of Lenin was toppled in December 2013 during the Revolution of Dignity.
"I believe the ideal location for it already exists. It has existed since December 2013 on Shevchenko Boulevard. I am certain that where Lenin fell, Mazepa will stand firm," the head of state concluded.
