Ukraine removes Soviet-era monuments
STORY: Ukraine has doubled down on efforts to erase all traces of Russian rule amid a full-scale invasion by Kremlin troops, now nearing its two-year mark.
Municipal workers on Saturday (December 9) carefully hoisted the hulking statue of Mykola Schors, a Soviet field commander during the Russian Civil War, off its pedestal.
The structure had occupied a prominent spot on a central artery named after Ukraine's national poet.
Onlookers stopped to watch and photograph as a giant crane lowered the horse-riding Schors onto a flatbed truck.
Thousands of streets and settlements have also been renamed in recent years as part of a de-communisation campaign launched after the 2014 Maidan Revolution, which toppled a pro-Russian leader.
