On January 25, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on a petition in Ukraine to replace the bust of Russian writer Alexander Pushkin in Odessa with a monument to blogger Anton Ptushkin.
“Whatever the country, such are the heroes,” she said.
Zakharova added that the situation reminds her of the film adaptation of “The Heart of a Dog,” noting that “the location is not ‘the missing house,’ but ‘the missing country.'”
Earlier on November 23, it was reported that Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, as well as poets Alexander Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov, were designated as “symbols of Russian imperialism” in Ukraine. This follows from a new list published by the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance. According to Ukrainian legislation, all objects dedicated to these historical figures must be removed from public space.
On November 2, the Russian commander Mikhail Kutuzov was added to this list, and on November 9, the entire Romanov family were included as symbols of “Russian imperialism.”
