Ukrainians topple statue of Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov after already tearing down others

Ukrainians have torn down a statue of the Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, the last monument in Dnipro associated with the Soviet era.

Council utility workers in the city of Dnipro were seen dismantling the giant statue previously placed in the centre of the city in the 1970s as a monument to the Russian scientist.

As the war continues, the country has continued its mission to remove any remnants of Russian and Soviet culture throughout modern-day Ukraine.

Local Ukrainian news outlets reported that this was the last monument to stand in the city that had an association to the Soviet era.

Utility workers dismantle the monument to Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov with the help of special equipment, Dnipro, Ukraine, January 6, 2022

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Council utility workers in the city of Dnipro were seen dismantling the giant statue of Mikhail Lomonosov, January 6, 2022

Workers in Dnipro have previously taken down eight other monuments following online voting and decisions from the city’s executive committee.

The other dismantled statues include Alexander Pushkin, a playwright and poet in the 1800s, and Maxim Gorky, a writer, socialist academic and five-time Nobel Prize nominee.

Statues of Andrei Bulygin, Valery Chkalov, Alexander Matrosov, Yefim Pushkin, and Volodia Dubinin were also taken down.

Council utility workers dressed in high-vis orange jackets and hard-hats were seen pulling down the statue from its plinth outside a university building in Ukraine’s fourth-largest city.

The statue was unveiled in June 1971, some twenty years before the Soviet Union formally collapsed in 1991. It is made of bronze and appears to stand at around 12ft. 

Some of the workers stood on a cherry-picker as a crane lowered a large tether to wrap round the monument to the scientist. Others cordoned off the area from gathering locals.

When the tether was in place, the crane driver skilfully eased the statue off of the plinth before slowly placing it down on to the ground and laying it face down. 

Many watched on as the city’s last remaining statue of the Soviet era was dismantled, as the country’s blue and yellow flag flickered through the wind in the background. 

Some of the workers stood on a cherry-picker as a crane lowered a large tether to wrap round the monument to the scientist. Others cordoned off the area from other locals

 Many watched on as the city’s last remaining statue of the Soviet era was dismantled, as the country’s blue and yellow flag flickered through the wind in the background

 As the war continues, the country has continued its mission to remove any remnants of Russian and Soviet culture throughout modern-day Ukraine

The toppled statue will now be temporarily stored away by local officials, Dnipro, Ukraine, January 6, 2020

The toppled statue will now be temporarily stored away by local officials

This follows other Soviet era statues that have been torn down across Ukraine.

Just weeks ago, council workers in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa pulled down a monument to Russian empress Catherine the Great.

After an online public vote to get rid of the Catherine II monument approved the decision, workers removed it from the city. 

The statue of Catherine the Great, was erected in 1900 in Odessa to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the city’s founding.

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Council workers in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa tore down a monument to Catherine the Great after a public vote to get rid of it, December 28, 2022

Workers remove the monument to Catherine II, also known as ‘Monument to the Founders of Odesa’, Ukraine, in the early hours of December 29, 2022