Pursuant to the law on decommunization, the Lviv Regional State Administration has issued a resolution to change the names of 122 more place names.
Most of the new street names were chosen by the communities themselves, while some were suggested by members of the working group on decommunization that operates under the Lviv Regional State Administration.
“In accordance with the requirements of the law, we have completed a year’s work to clean up public space: there is no longer a single monument to the occupier in the Lviv region, and if there are streets with ideologically hostile names anywhere else, we ask communities to promptly correct the situation. The name of the street where we live and where our child goes to school is very important. Everything that surrounds us from childhood shapes our consciousness. We love what we grow up around and realize ourselves. That is why Ukrainian children should know Ukrainian heroes and the true history of their homeland from an early age,” said Andriy Godyk, head of the working group on decommunization at the Lviv Regional State Administration.
Among the street names chosen by the communities, many are in honor of contemporary Ukrainian heroes. However, they also honored prominent figures of the national liberation struggle in the 20th century, UPA soldiers, clergy of the UGCC persecuted by the Bolsheviks, and significant events in modern Ukrainian history.
“Just last week, our request for names of streets to be decommunized was answered by the state enterprise National Information Systems, which summarizes all information on toponymy and makes relevant changes. Therefore, the number of occupation place names that had to be changed promptly increased dramatically,” says Yuriy Horun, director of the Department of Communications and Internal Policy at the Lviv Regional State Administration.
The Law of Ukraine “On Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and Decolonization of Place Names” imposed the obligation to complete the decommunization of public space in settlements on the heads of the regional administrations. From July 27, 2023, to January 27, 2024, it obliged the communities themselves to change place names and dismantle Soviet monuments. If local governments failed to do this through public hearings, consultations with residents, and decisions of local council sessions, the head of the community could change place names or dismantle monuments by order until April 27. From April 27 to July 27, such powers were transferred to the heads of the regional military administrations.
Therefore, the heads of most regional military administrations throughout Ukraine issued similar orders on those days to change hundreds of Soviet and Russian place names.