The Law of Ukraine “On Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and Decolonisation of Toponymy” specifies clear deadlines for implementation.
This was stated by Mykhailo Shelep, Advisor on Decentralisation and Local Self-Government at the Regional Office of U-LEAD in the Rivne Oblast, at a local self-government event. U-LEAD organised this event for Ukrainian municipalities to provide expert clarifications of the legal basis for condemning Russian imperial policy in Ukraine and the procedures for eliminating its symbols.
“Back in the summer of last year, when U-LEAD conducted the first activities on the procedure for renaming streets, squares and other toponyms in settlements, we noted that the legislation does not fully reflect the real state of affairs. Many cases of de-Russification (a term used even by the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy) of public space were initiated by public activists, as well as, in some cases, local self-government bodies.
However, the adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and Decolonisation of Toponymy” in 2023 clearly and unequivocally puts everything related to Russian colonial symbols beyond the scope of the permitted use,” said the adviser.
According to him, the Law defines deadlines for local self-government bodies to implement actions to decolonise toponyms in their municipalities. The first deadline for local councils is 27 January 2024:
“If the councils fail to manage this, the relevant authority to rename streets will be passed to heads of villages, towns and cities. As was the case with the decommunisation process, if municipalities on their own fail to adopt timely decisions on how to change the prohibited toponyms, then the state authorities will do it for them, but at their own discretion. So all local self-government bodies should take this seriously,” said Mykhailo Shelep.
In addition to establishing the procedure and deadlines for getting rid of the Russian imperial policy symbols, the Decolonisation Law also declares the commitment to the revival of the national memory of the Ukrainian people and the protection of the Ukrainian cultural and informational space. Viktoriia Trotsenko, Decentralisation and Local Self-Government Adviser at the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, emphasised this at the event.
According to her, the Law condemns the Russian imperial policy in Ukraine and prohibits the propaganda of Russian symbols originating from the period from the founding of Tsardom of Muscovy in 1547 to the present day:
“Thus, from now on, propaganda of Russian imperial (colonial) policy as well as propaganda, production, distribution and public use of Russian imperial policy symbols are banned. The ban also covers the prohibition of assignment of certain names to geographical objects, legal entities and property if these names glorify, perpetuate, promote or contain symbols of Russian imperial policy, the terrorist (aggressor) state or are dedicated to its landmarks, monuments, historical and cultural sites, localities, dates or events. So the municipalities have a lot of work on their hands,” said the adviser.
The event focused on the legal basis for condemning Russian imperial policy in Ukraine and discussed the objects covered by the ban on propaganda of Russian imperial policy as well as exceptions to them.
The procedure for renaming geographical objects and toponyms and the procedure for dismantling monuments and memorial signs from public spaces were also discussed separately.