Society

Poltava residents love their colonial past: imperial monuments that the city does not want to say goodbye to

The vast majority of Poltava residents support the preservation of Russian imperial monuments in the city in one form or another, Komersant ukrainskyi reports, citing ZMIST.

The analytical center “ZMIST” conducted a sociological study on the future of Russian imperial monuments in the city. The face-to-face survey was conducted in Poltava from March 8 to 12 and covered 1,100 respondents. The statistical error of the results is no more than 2.3%.

The publication asked the city’s residents for their opinions on monuments that have a pronounced Russian imperial character. As it turned out, Poltava residents are quite satisfied with these monuments.

The monument of glory

The Monument of Glory in Poltava was erected in 1811 in honor of the Russian Empire’s victory in the Battle of Poltava in 1709. This battle was a key moment in the Great Northern War between Sweden and Muscovy, but for Ukraine it meant a catastrophic defeat. The Ukrainian Hetman Ivan Mazepa, together with his ally, King Charles XII of Sweden, tried to free the Hetmanate from Moscow rule, but after the defeat at Poltava, Ukraine lost its chance for independence.

The consequences of this defeat were extremely grave. Muscovy brutally dealt with Mazepa’s supporters, destroyed Baturyn and other cities, and Poltava itself became an important symbol of Russian imperial power. After the victory of Peter the Great, Left-Bank Ukraine finally came under the control of Muscovy, which led to increased repression, restriction of the rights of the Ukrainian Cossacks, and the elimination of the autonomy of the Hetmanate in the eighteenth century. The erection of the Monument of Glory was supposed to consolidate this colonial narrative, turning Poltava into one of the centers of imperial propaganda.

Despite this, the results of the survey showed that 50.55% of respondents are in favor of preserving the Monument of Glory in its current form. Another 41.87% support the idea of clearing the monument of Russian imperial symbols, but believe that the column itself should be left.

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Monument to Kelin

The monument to Alexei Kelin, the commandant of the Poltava fortress during the Battle of Poltava in 1709, was erected as part of the Russian imperial cult of Peter the Great’s victory. Kelin led the defense of the city against the Swedish troops of Charles XII and the Cossacks led by Ivan Mazepa, and helped to hold the strategically important Poltava until the main forces of the Moscow army approached. In Russian historiography, his figure has been glorified as a symbol of loyalty to the empire, while for Ukraine he personifies the colonization regime in Poltava.

The erection of the monument to Kelin in 1909 became another symbol of imperial policy aimed at establishing Russian domination and displacing the Ukrainian national narrative from the historical memory of Poltava.

“Monument to the Glorious Defenders of Poltava and the Commandant of the Fortress Oleksii Kelin” is its official name to this day.

And the city’s residents see no problems with this monument. 55% of respondents are in favor of keeping the monument unchanged, while less than 1% agree to change the inscription or move it to a museum. One third of respondents support the dismantling of imperial symbols, and only 6.56% are in favor of complete dismantling of the monument.

Monument at the resting place of Peter the Great

The monument was erected on the site of the house of the Cossack Magdenko, where the commandant of the Poltava fortress, Oleksii Kelin, lived. It is claimed that after the Battle of Poltava in 1709, the next day, Peter the Great stayed in this house

The first monument on this site was erected in 1817 in the form of a brick obelisk. In 1849, it was replaced by a cast-iron obelisk made in St. Petersburg by the architect Brullov and the artist Hamburger. The monument is 7.2 meters high and consists of a rectangular three-tiered cast-iron obelisk on a granite stylobate. The top is decorated with a shield, a sword, and a helmet, and the planes bear high relief images of the coat of arms of the Russian Empire, a resting lion, and memorial inscriptions.

This monument also definitely conveys the imperial narrative that depicts Poltava as a specifically imperial city, connected to the Russian center and Russian history.

Poltava residents also mostly have no complaints about it. 43.71% of respondents believe that it should be left in its original form, while 35.93% are in favor of clearing it of Russian imperial symbols.

Poltava context

All three of these monuments were recommended to be dismantled and removed from public space by the expert council of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine. on January 31, 2025, the Ministry of Culture decided to exclude 15 cultural heritage sites in Poltava from the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine. The full list of these monuments is as follows:

1. Monument to Peter the Great.
2. Peter the Great’s command post.
3. Monument at the place where Peter the Great rested after the Battle of Poltava.
4. A monument to the defenders of the Poltava fortress and the commandant O. S. Kelin.
5. The location of the first redoubt along the longitudinal line.
6. The location of the second redoubt along the longitudinal line.
7. The location of the third redoubt along the longitudinal line.
8. Location of the fourth redoubt of the longitudinal line.
9. The location of the first transverse line redoubt.
10. The location of the second transverse line reducer.
11. The location of the third redoubt of the transverse line.
12. The location of the fourth redoubt of the transverse line.
13. The location of the fifth transverse line reducer.
14. The location of the sixth redoubt of the transverse line.
15. A monument at the site of the Russian army’s crossing of the Vorskla River.

A month ago, on February 25, 2025, the monument to Russian Emperor Peter the Great, which stood in front of the Museum of the Battle of Poltava, was dismantled in Poltava.

According to the head of the city’s Department of Culture, Olena Romas, there are no plans to melt down the monument or remove it from the museum. It will continue to be part of the museum’s exhibition.

However, in general, Poltava’s local authorities, like most of the city’s residents, are also not very enthusiastic about the recommendations of the Ministry of Culture. While the monument to Peter the Great and the monument at his resting place were decided to be dismantled and moved, the city executive committee, for example, decided to remove the plaque from the monument to Kelin. Now various ideas are being generated for its preservation. For example, there is an idea to simply rename the monument “Monument to Poltava-Lviv Friendship.”

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