The Ukrainian authorities in Kiev have partially dismantled a monument commemorating the Soviet victory over the Nazi Germany and the role the city played in that struggle.

Photos and videos that surfaced on social media and published by some Ukrainian news outlets on Saturday showed city workers disassembling and removing a golden star crowning the 40-meter-tall monument.

The golden star on the monument resembled the Hero of the Soviet Union order – the highest military award in the USSR. The monument dedicated “to the hero city of Kiev” was designed to commemorate the honorary title the city received for the outstanding heroism of its defenders and residents in the fight against the Nazis during World War II. A total of twelve Soviet cities received such titles.

The monument itself was erected in 1982 and was located on Victory Square, a name that was given in 1952 to honor the war. Earlier this year, the Ukrainian authorities renamed it Galitskaya Square.

The monument’s partial dismantling has become the latest episode of a long-running campaign by the Ukrainian authorities to remove all traces of the Soviet Union, and by extension, erase ties with Russia.

The campaign was launched as early as in 2015, when Ukraine adopted its so-called ‘decommunization law’, which banned Soviet-related symbols and led to the mass removal of monuments and the renaming of hundreds of places across the country. The legislation did make an exception for WWII landmarks.

However, after the start of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, the Ukrainian authorities redoubled their ‘decommunization’ efforts and this time did not spare WWII-related monuments.

In August, the Soviet coat of arms was removed from the iconic Motherland Monument. The 102-meter-tall landmark towering over the Dnieper River, held a 16-meter-long sword in its right hand and a shield emblazoned with the hammer and sickle, the Soviet coat of arms, in its left. Inaugurated in 1981 by Ukrainian-born Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, it is the fifth-tallest statue in the world and the tallest monument in the country.

The overhaul involved replacing the Soviet coat of arms with Ukraine’s golden trident. The Ukrainian Culture Ministry released a video showing part of the work being carried out. The monument itself was then renamed as ‘Ukraine-Mother’.

A public poll conducted in Ukraine in late August suggested, however, that some two thirds of Ukrainians considered the move ill-timed and said that the money allocated for the job could have been better spent elsewhere. Ukrainian Minister of Culture Alexandr Tkachenko estimated in mid-July that the overhaul would cost 28 million hryvnia ($755,000), adding that it was financed through private donations.

https://www.rt.com/russia/586594-kiev-dismantle-symbol-nazi-defeat/

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Moscow’s forces have stopped the Ukrainian counteroffensive dead in its tracks, Evgeny Balitsky, the governor of Zaporozhye Region, has said. 

He further described what he called Kiev’s last-ditch attempts to breach Russian defenses as not particularly impressive. In recent months, Zaporozhye has emerged as a scene of some of the fiercest fighting.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Balitsky stated that “the enemy has been halted, as has been its much-hyped counteroffensive.” He said that the ongoing fighting near the settlements of Rabotino and Shcherbaki and on the Vremievsky Ridge was “almost an agony for the Ukrainian regime.”

The official declared that Ukrainian forces, which have been trying to storm Russian positions for months, have “completely run out of steam.” 

“Now, when the enemy launches an attack, they deploy only small forces because their companies are understrength,” he added.

According to Balitsky, the plan to reach the Sea of Azov and cut Russia’s land bridge to Crimea – widely seen as the main objective of Kiev's summer campaign – has been thwarted. He also claimed that Ukrainian attacks are now largely unsupported by armor, as Russian forces have knocked out many vehicles.

The governor stated that the current “meat onslaught”had been organized by Kiev’s Western backers, suggesting that the latter would prefer to lose Ukrainian soldiers rather than their own expensive military equipment.

Ukraine began a large-scale offensive in early June, but has failed to make substantial progress. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said last week that “the Kiev regime is losing.” He has previously estimated Ukraine’s losses at more than 90,000 troops, nearly 600 tanks, and 2,000 armored vehicles since the start of the push.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials have admitted difficulties with the campaign, blaming a lack of progress on delays in Western support, strong Russian defenses, and extensive minefields as well as Moscow’s air superiority. 

Last week, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Valery Zaluzhny, characterized the frontline situation as a “stalemate” due to the level of technological prowess of both sides. That assessment, however, was rejected by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who insisted that while his country found itself in a “difficult” situation, it still had the initiative.

https://www.rt.com/russia/586687-ukraine-counteroffensive-halted-zaporozhye/

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Ukrainian officials are not actually “stealing like there’s no tomorrow,” and “anonymous sources” claiming otherwise should not be trusted, Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has said.

The minister made the remarks on Monday, commenting on a recent report by Time magazine alleging there is rampant – and poorly concealed – corruption in the country.

“The information by Time that officials are ‘stealing like there is no tomorrow’ is untrue,” Kuleba stated, as quoted by local media.

“This is a statement from an anonymous source. Everyone should read the assessments of the European Commission, which revealed a systemic fight against corruption in Ukraine,” he added, insisting that Kiev has greatly improved its ways and means to “react” to graft cases.

In the original Time article, journalist Simon Shuster claimed to have spoken to an unnamed Ukrainian top presidential adviser, asking him whether “officials in Ukraine would think twice before taking a bribe or pocketing state funds” given all the purported effort to “root out” corruption in the country. The adviser reportedly said this was not the case.

“Simon, you’re mistaken. People are stealing like there’s no tomorrow,” the official allegedly told him.

In recent weeks, multiple Western media outlets have reported growing concerns amongst Ukraine’s sponsors over the country’s apparent graft and misuse of funds. Early in October, for instance, Politico wrote that the US administration was “far more worried about corruption in Ukraine than they publicly admit.” This corruption could ultimately force the West to abandon Kiev, the newspaper suggested, citing a sensitive document it had obtained.

The growing demands for accountability has put in limbo a new $60 billion package for Ukraine, which has been tabled by the Biden administration. The new request for Congress was met with strong opposition from some Republican lawmakers, who demanded more accountability from the president and urged him to actually explain his endgame strategy for the ongoing conflict between Kiev and Moscow.

https://www.rt.com/russia/586696-ukrainian-officials-not-stealing/

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