Christians suffered all the time from the policy of Russia. It is impossible not to recall the Mennonite settlers who had settled in the south of Ukraine in the 18th century and were forced to flee to other countries due to persecution and murder by the Soviet authorities. With the advent of communism, it was forbidden to go to church and read the Bible. Atheism and the cult of "man" were gaining momentum.
The process of decommunization in Ukraine, which began after the collapse of the USSR, intensified with renewed vigor during the political crisis, the annexation of Crimea and the change of authority in 2014. The former president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, signed a series of laws on the process of dismantling the symbols of the Soviet past, which came into force on May 21, 2015.
The names of 76 cities and urban-type settlements, as well as 795 villages and settlements named after Soviet leaders, were subject to initial change. In particular, two regional centers, Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovograd, were to be renamed. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine renamed these cities respectively on May 19, 2016 - Dnipropetrovsk to Dnipro, and on July 14, 2016 - Kirovograd to Kropyvnytskyi. In October 2015, the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance published a list of 520 people whose activity was subject to decommunization laws. According to the list, street names and other place names in their honor were changed.
With the advent of a new form Russian aggression in Ukraine, namely the full-scale military invasion, the mayors of the cities where Soviet monuments remained began to dismantle and rename the streets named after Russian figures. So, in the capital of Ukraine, under the Arch of Friendship of Peoples, which symbolized the reunification of Ukraine with Russia, on April 26, 2022, a sculpture of a Ukrainian and a Russian worker holding the ribbon with the Order of Friendship of Peoples, was demolished. During dismantling, the head of the sculpture of a Russian worker fell off. Also, at the regular session, the Drohobych City Council decided to assign the names of the Heroes of Ukraine to a number of streets that used to bear the names of Russian figures, and also dismantled the Eternal Flame memorial.
But the most interesting case of decommunization occurred in the village of Kanevskoye. During the shelling of the village, one shell exploded near the memorial to a Russian soldier and blew off his head with a shrapnel. The photo shows that neither the stand nor the figure of the monument was damaged. One of the ministers, who later delivered humanitarian aid in the village, at first thought that the head had been specially cut off by someone. But the inhabitants of the destroyed village say that they did not touch it. The Russian soldiers did the work for them.
Thus, Ukraine continues to make room for a new history of the country. We believe that with getting rid of the Soviet and Russian past, the fruits of the Christian present will grow. Many people will turn to God thanks to today's Christians who go to the ruined cities and sow the seeds of faith. During the war, more than 10,000 copies of Christian literature were distributed. We believe that no power can separate people from God. Every Christian now prays for the end of the war and continues to believe in the preservation of their territories, even though many cities are already under occupation. We believe in God's power. We believe His words: “Do not be afraid, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you and help you and uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness” (Isaiah 41:10).
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