The Impact of the Russo-Ukrainian War on Soviet War Memorials

What is it about?

As a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2002, Soviet monuments across Eastern Europe – particularly those commemorating the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army in the Second World War – are being subject to accelerated removal. These monuments signify a mixture of victory and liberation; loss and grief; and occupation, tyranny and foreign rule, and their removal is deepening divisions between Russia and Ukraine and makes the restoration of peace and the normalcy of international relations more elusive.

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Photo by Pavel Neznanov on Unsplash

Photo by Pavel Neznanov on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The continued pace of demolition and removal of Soviet-era monuments and museum objects comprises an increasing source of social tension, particularly among the Russian diaspora and Russian-speaking minority groups in those countries where demolition is occurring. This will continue to further tensions and make the restoration of peace and the normalcy of international relations more elusive, while raising complex questions about the construction of the histories of nations that might once have been liberators but are now aggressors, or further afield, in a postcolonial context where political relations among nations have changed.