Trukhanov on renaming in Odesa: “The city is losing its face”

The mayor of Odesa, Gennadiy Trukhanov, expressed his displeasure with the renaming of the toponyms of the city, initiated by the head of the Odesa OVA. He noted that the city council plans to “take all measures provided for by law” to cancel this decision. The mayor of Odesa published a corresponding statement on July 31 in his Telegram channel.

At the beginning of the week, information appeared that the head of the Odesa OVA by his order renamed about 400 toponyms in the region, of which approximately 80 are in Odesa itself. The list of renamed streets included the following streets in the city center: Pushkinska, Bunina, Zhukovsky, Dvoryanska, Zhvanetsky Boulevard, Duma Square, and others named after famous Odessa residents such as Paustovsky, Kataev, Ilf, and Petrov. In addition, OVA recommended dismantling the monument to Pushkin on Primorsky Boulevard.

According to Trukhanov, not all toponyms from the OVA list could be renamed, especially those located in the area of ​​the UNESCO historical heritage site, which is the historical center of Odessa.

“Article 5 of the law on decolonization clearly states that the ban does not apply to world heritage sites. The Pushkin monument is located in exactly such a zone – the historical center of Odessa, which is under the protection of UNESCO. Accordingly, the dismantling of this monument will violate the integrity and authenticity of the object world heritage site and will adversely affect its outstanding universal value“, Gennadiy Trukhanov noted.

The mayor also opposes the renaming of streets named after famous Odessans. He reminded that since 2019, Odesa has been a UNESCO city of literature, and such a renaming can “not only call into question the position of the international community regarding our heritage, but also reduce the value of literary Odesa on a global scale.”

“Based on the logic of the ‘decolonizers’, we have to abandon everything that made Odessa a world brand. Simply speaking, this ‘resets’ our city“, – stating the measure.

The city council plans to “take all measures provided for by law” to cancel this renaming. The mayor did not specify the details of further actions.

What toponyms were renamed in Odessa

Three major avenues received new names:

• Akademika Hlushka became the avenue of Prince Yaroslav the Wise;
• Dobrovolsky — along Prince Volodymyr the Great Avenue;
• Gagarina — along Lesya Ukrainka Avenue.

New names for other toponyms will also appear in the city:

• 28 brigade street instead of Paustovsky,
• Boulevard of the Naval Forces instead of Zhvanetsky,
• Hospitalieriv lane instead of Lermontovsky 2nd lane.

Pushkinskaya will be renamed Italiyskaya, Tchaikovsky Lane – Teatralny, Gagarin Plateau – Arkadiyske. Dumska Square will become the Exchange Square, as the City Hall is located in the building of the Old Odessa Stock Exchange.

Zhukovsky Street will be named in honor of Sviatoslav Karavansky, a writer, well-known linguist and dissident from Odessa. The neighboring street Bunina will be renamed in honor of Nina Strokatai – Odesa resident, microbiologist, activist and human rights defender, dissident. The former Brativ Poggio street will now be named in honor of Vasyl Fashchenko, a Ukrainian literary critic and critic.