Decolonization in Ukraine

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Processes of decolonization in Ukraine began during the dissolution of the Soviet Union and accelerated during the Revolution of Dignity, the Russo-Ukrainian War and especially the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[1]

The term as used by the people of Ukraine is generally collective, encompassing both decommunization and derussification in the country.^[2]

During the war, the main component of Ukraine's politics of memory is decolonization, as a continuation of decommunization, which began in 2015, and deRussification, which was launched by some local authorities and right-wing activists after the full-scale Russian invasion. Decolonization of memory involves the removal of symbols from the public space, including names and memorial signs that are viewed as markers of Russian imperial policy. Ukraine aims to distance itself from the influence of Russian historiography, shape its own national historical narrative, and develop politics of memory connected with the European tradition. The intended outcome of decolonization is to sever the cultural and historical ties between Ukraine and Russia, thereby preventing anyone from considering Ukrainians and Russians as either "one nation" or "brotherly nations".^[2]

Implementation of the decolonisation politics involves several components:^[3]

• Legislative regulation of historical memory. It has been legally implemented through four Ukrainian decommunization laws, as well as the 2023 law "On the Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and the Decolonization of Toponymy".^[4][5]
• Destruction of monuments, renaming of toponyms. Following the full-scale invasion, monuments and toponyms associated with Russia and the USSR began to be perceived as markers of the invader, through which the empire "branded" its territory.
• Installation of monuments to the victims of Russian aggression.
• Reevaluation of holidays.
• Modifications in the school history curriculum. The colonial status of Ukraine within the Russian Empire/ USSR becomes the central narrative.
• Removal of Russian and Soviet literature from libraries.