KHARKIV’S PUBLIC SPACE AMIDST UKRAINE’S WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE: REEVALUATING THE IMPERIAL AND SOVIET PAST


DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/2520-2626/2026.38.7

Ihor DVORKIN

Abstract


Abstract. The article examines changes in Kharkiv's public space during Ukraine's War of Independence. The changes associated with the rethinking of the images of the imperial and Soviet past in the city are analyzed. The article highlights the ambivalent processes of decolonization and the emergence of “places of memory” of (neo)Soviet and (neo)imperial images in the urban space of Kharkiv in the first decades of Ukraine’s independence. The perception of the historical heritage of the imperial and Soviet periods of Ukraine’s history, as well as Ukrainian-Russian relations, is undergoing radical transformations under the influence of Russian hybrid aggression (since 2014) and full-scale invasion (since 2022). The purpose of this article is to highlight and analyze the changes in the image of the imperial and Soviet past that occurred in the public space of Kharkiv during the War of Independence of Ukraine in 2014. Methodologically, the article draws on memory research, postcolonial research, and related fields. This is necessary to understand the context in which changes to the city's memorial space are taking place. The imperial perception of Ukraine by Russia, which largely caused the Russian-Ukrainian war, also had its markers in Kharkiv. Changes in the image of the Russian Empire/USSR/Russia are analyzed in the context of the implementation of Ukrainian legislation, which in turn reflects the evolution of the attitude of the state and society towards the aggressor country. The conclusions note that Russian aggression led to the displacement of Russian imperial and Soviet markers from Kharkiv's symbolic map. This process, which began as decommunization, later transformed into decolonization/derussification and became a sign of the final break between Ukrainian and Russian historical narratives.

Keywords


Russо-Ukrainian war; World War II; historical memory; politics of memory; decommunization; decolonization; methodological approaches; Memory Studies; local history; history and culture of Ukraine

References


Dvorkin I.V. (2025). Obraz impers'koho ta radians'koho mynuloho v ukrains'komu zakonodavstvi (2014 – 2025 rr.) [The image of the imperial and Soviet past in Ukrainian legislation (2014 – 2025)]. Visnyk humanitarnykh nauk. Vyp. 14. URL: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18066321 (in Ukrainian).

Zakon Ukrainy (2015). Zakon Ukrainy «Pro zasudzhennia komunistychnoho ta natsional-sotsialistychnoho (natsysts'koho) totalitarnykh rezhymiv v Ukraini ta zaboronu propahandy ikhn'oi symvoliky» [Law of Ukraine “On the condemnation of the communist and national socialist (Nazi) totali-tarian regimes in Ukraine and the prohibition of propaganda of their symbols”]. URL: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/317-19/ed20150409#Text (in Ukrainian).

Zakon Ukrainy (2023). Zakon Ukrainy “Pro zasudzhennia ta zaboronu propahandy rosijs'koi impers'koi polityky v Ukraini i dekolonizatsiiu toponimii [Law of Ukraine “On the condemnation and prohibition of propaganda of Russian imperial policy in Ukraine and the decolonization of topony-my”]. URL: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/3005-20/ed20230321#Text (in Ukrainian).

Kyivs'kyj mizhnarodnyj instytut sotsiolohii. Stavlen-nia ukraintsiv do rosiian [Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. Ukrainians' attitude towards Russians]. URL: https://kiis.com.ua/?lang=ukr&cat=reports&id=1446 (in Ukrainian).

Kiselyova Yu. (2022). Monumental'ni mistsia pam'iati v umovakh vijny: praktyky medijnoi re-prezentatsii [Monumental Sites of Memory in War-time: Practices of Media Representation]. Visnyk Kharkivs'koho natsional'noho universytetu imeni V. N. Karazina. Vyp. 62. Pp. 86–112. URL: https://periodicals.karazin.ua/history/article/download/21504/20034/ (in Ukrainian).

Kravchenko V. (2011). Ukraina, imperiia, Rosiia. Vybrani statti z modernoi istorii ta istoriohrafii [Ukraine, Empire, Russia. Selected articles on mod-ern history and historiography]. Kyiv. 542 p. (in Ukrainian).

Pam'iatnyk bortsiam za nezalezhnist' Ukrainy v Kharkovi [Monument to the fighters for the inde-pendence of Ukraine in Kharkiv]. URL: https://zabytki.in.ua/uk/2118/pam-yatnik-bortsyam-za-nezalezhnist-ukrayini-v-kharkovi (in Ukrainian).

U Kharkovi dekomunizuvaly p'iat' stantsij metro i pivsotni vulyts' [Five metro stations and fifty streets were decommunized in Kharkiv]. URL: https://ua.korrespondent.net/city/kharkov/3684227-u-kharkovi-dekomunizuvaly-piat-stantsii-metro-i-pivsotni-vulyts (in Ukrainian).

U Kharkovi demontuvaly pamiatnyk Zhukovu [The monument to Zhukov was dismantled in Kharkiv]. URL: https://suspilne.media/kharkiv/229580-u-harkovi-demontuvali-pamatnik-zukovu/ (in Ukraini-an).

U Kharkovi pereimenuvaly try vulytsi i raion [Three streets and a district were renamed in Kharkiv]. URL: https://www.city.kharkov.ua/uk/news/u-kharkovi-pereymenuvali-tri-vulitsi-y-rayon-50722.html (in Ukrainian).

Kharkiv pislia perejmenuvan': pidsumky dekoloni-zatsii ta suspil'nyj rezonans [Kharkiv after re-namings: results of decolonization and public reso-nance]. URL: https://gwaramedia.com/kharkiv-pislia-pereymenuvan-pidsumky-dekolonizatsii-ta-suspilnyy-rezonans/ (in Ukrainian).

Kharkivs'ki aktyvisty «ukrainizuvaly» dytiachyj maj-danchyk-Kreml' [Kharkiv activists «ukrainianized» the playground-Kremlin]. URL: https://24tv.ua/kharkiv/harkivski_aktivisti_ukrayinizuvali_dityachiy_maydanchikkreml_n463031 (in Ukraini-an).

Betlii О. (2022). The Identity Politics of Heritage: Decommunization, Decolonization, and Derussifi-cation of Kyiv Monuments after Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine. Journal of Applied History. No. 4. Pp. 149–169. URL: https://doi.org/10.1163/25895893-bja10031

Gnatiuk O., Homanyuk M. (2023). From geopolitical fault-line to frontline city: changing attitudes to memory politics in Kharkiv under the Russo-Ukrainian war. Hungarian Geographical Bulletin. Vol. 72. Iss. 3. Pp. 1–18. URI: https://ekhsuir.kspu.edu/handle/123456789/20960

Kuzio T. (2022). Imperial nationalism as the driver behind Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Nations and Nationalism. Vol. 29. Pp. 30–38. URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12875

Mälksoo M. (2015). ‘Memory must be defended’: Beyond the politics of mnemonical security. Memory Studies. Vol. 46. Iss. 3. Pp. 221–237. URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/0967010614552549

Pakhomenko S., Hedo A. (2020). Politics of Memory in Latvia and Ukraine: Official Narratives and the Challenges of Counter-Memory. Studia Politica. Romanian Political Science Review. Vol. 20. Iss. 4. Pp. 525–548. URL: https://elibrary.kubg.edu.ua/id/eprint/38454

Sabadash V. (2025). Ukrainian–Russian Relations in the Memory Spaces of Ukrainian Cities (1991–2024). The Journal of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Series History. Iss. 68. Pp. 126–141. URL: https://doi.org/10.26565/2220-7929-2025-68-08

Törnquist-Plewa B., Yurchuk Y. (2019). Memory politics in contemporary Ukraine: Reflections from the postcolonial perspective. Memory Studies. Vol. 12. Iss. 6. Pp. 699–720. URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/1750698017727806


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.