Zelenskyy: In Kyiv, where Lenin fell, Mazepa will stand—a Cossack hetman Russia still curses
A bust of Ivan Mazepa has been placed at Kyiv's main monastery, and President Zelenskyy wants a full monument on the boulevard where a Soviet statue was toppled in 2013.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced plans to erect a monument to Hetman Ivan Mazepa in central Kyiv, at the site where a statue of Vladimir Lenin once stood. The symbolic move was revealed as part of efforts to restore national history and strengthen Ukraine's European identity.
A bust of Mazepa has already been installed at Kyiv's main monastery, the Saint Sophia Cathedral complex. This marks the first step in honoring the 18th-century Cossack leader who resisted the Russian Empire and allied with Swedish King Charles XII. In Russian historiography, Mazepa is often portrayed as a traitor, while in Ukraine he is revered as a symbol of national freedom.
Zelenskyy emphasized that the full monument will be placed on the boulevard where Lenin's statue was toppled during the 2013 Euromaidan protests. That location has become a symbol of Ukraine's break from its Soviet past. The president noted that the Mazepa monument will not only be a tribute to history but also a testament that Russia's efforts to erase Ukrainian identity have been futile.
