Ukraine's cabinet backs monument to Hetman Mazepa on site of toppled Lenin statue in Kyiv
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers approved the Ministry of Culture's proposal to erect a monument to Ukrainian Hetman Ivan Mazepa in central Kyiv. The planned site is Taras Shevchenko Boulevard, where a monument to Vladimir Lenin stood until it was torn down during the Euromaidan in December 2013. President Volodymyr Zelensky first announced the initiative on June 28 during events marking the 30th anniversary of the Constitution of Ukraine.
Key points
- Cabinet of Ministers backed the Ministry of Culture's proposal on September 24, 2026.
- Monument would stand on Taras Shevchenko Boulevard, on the site of the dismantled Lenin monument.
- Initiative was announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky on June 28 at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.
- Implementation is anchored in Presidential Decree No. 781 of August 21 on commemorating Mazepa's memory.
- An open competition will choose the sketch design; the Ministry of Culture will be the customer.
- Installation and landscaping will be financed from the Kyiv city budget; other lawful sources may also contribute.
- Final cost will be set after the competition and approval of design and estimate documentation.
Why it matters
The decision is a high-profile symbolic act replacing a Soviet-era monument with one honoring a figure long associated with Ukrainian statehood and resistance to Russian imperial rule. Because it was launched by the president and is anchored in a specific presidential decree, the project ties directly to the central government's historical-memory agenda. The fact that a design competition, a dedicated customer, and identified funding sources have been named indicates the project has moved beyond announcement into implementation planning.
What happened
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers approved the Ministry of Culture's proposal to erect a monument to Hetman Ivan Mazepa in Kyiv. The planned location is Taras Shevchenko Boulevard, on the site of the Lenin monument dismantled during the Euromaidan in December 2013. President Volodymyr Zelensky first announced the initiative on June 28 during events marking the 30th anniversary of the Constitution of Ukraine at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. Implementation is grounded in Presidential Decree No. 781 of August 21, titled "On commemorating the memory of Ukrainian Hetman Ivan Mazepa." An open competition will be held to select the best sketch project; the Ministry of Culture will act as the customer for design and production. The competition will be organized by the Ministry of Culture together with the State Agency for Arts and Art Education and the Kyiv City State Administration. Installation of the monument and improvement of the adjacent territory will be financed from the Kyiv city budget, with funds from other sources not prohibited by law also permissible. The final cost will be determined after the competition and approval of the design and estimate documentation. Vice Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture Tetiana Berezhna characterized Mazepa as a key figure in Ukrainian history and a state-builder who consistently defended Ukraine's political subjectivity and supported Ukrainian culture and education.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
All five supplied sources are Ukrainian-language outlets — Ukrinform, Liga.net/LB.ua, Ukrainska Pravda, Radio Svoboda and Hromadske Radio — and report the cabinet's decision straightforwardly, framing it as a state decision implementing a Zelensky initiative. Coverage foregrounds Tetiana Berezhna's description of Mazepa as a key historical figure and state-builder who defended Ukraine's political subjectivity. Several articles lead with the symbolic Lenin-to-Mazepa substitution, emphasizing the de-Sovietization dimension of the decision. At least one article recasts the project as superseding the earlier dispute between Mayor Vitali Klitschko and Ukrainian Institute of National Memory head Oleksandr Alfyorov over whether a fountain should occupy the site.
Background
The Lenin monument at the corner of Taras Shevchenko Boulevard and Khreshchatyk Street was toppled by Euromaidan participants in December 2013. In April of the reporting year the Kyiv City State Administration announced plans to install a fountain at the site; Ukrainian Institute of National Memory head Oleksandr Alfyorov called that plan "dangerous." Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko had previously said he wanted a fountain at the site near Bessarabsky Market, calling it "the most neutral solution" for the public space. Earlier plans to erect a Mazepa monument in Kyiv date to 2008 under President Viktor Yushchenko, but the monument was never built. In Ukraine a full monument to Mazepa exists only in Poltava; busts of him stand in several localities including Chernihiv. The Russian Orthodox Church declared an anathema on Ivan Mazepa in 1708 on the orders of Tsar Peter I after Mazepa sided with Swedish King Charles XII in the Great Northern War.