Almost eight years ago, on May 21, 2015, the Law of Ukraine On the condemnation of the communist and national socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regimes in Ukraine and the prohibition of propaganda of their symbols came into force, which made it possible to remove geographical names associated with the Sovietization of public space from the map of Ukraine.
On April 24, 2023, the Law of Ukraine On the condemnation and prohibition of propaganda of Russian imperial policy in Ukraine and the decolonization of place names was published, which will enter into force at the end of July 2023. This law will allow, in particular, to change Russian street names to those associated with Ukrainian history.
It so happened that Crimea was already occupied by the time the law on decommunization came into force, but now the prospect of de-occupation of Crimea has become more real than ever, and from the first minute of the liberation of Crimea, it is necessary to change the names of settlements, streets, lanes, boulevards and squares.
Are we ready for this?
In January 2023, the Crimean Tatar Resource Center launched the information campaign Return the names – return Crimea, dedicated to the restoration of the historical toponymy of Crimea, which is of great importance for establishing justice for the forcibly deported Crimean Tatar people, for whom it is vital to preserve their identity and history.
But we understand that the map of the Ukrainian Crimea after its de-occupation should capture not only the toponyms of the historical past, but also the events of the modern history of our country!
In the cities and towns of the Crimea today we have many geographical objects that still bear names associated with Russian imperialism and Sovietism. For example, in Simferopol we have Lenin Square, Boulevard and Street, Kirov Avenue, Bela Kun, Mate Zalka, Mokrousov, Bolshevik Streets, Moscow Square and the Soviet Constitution Square, which the occupants renamed in honor of the traitor Nikolai Bagrov. In Yalta, there are streets of Voroshilov, Blucher, Kuibyshev, Krupskaya, Kirov, Kommunar, Komsomol and so on. To the old street names, the occupiers today add streets that are called in honor of the fallen heroes of the SMO.
It is clear that after the de-occupation, all these names will need to be immediately removed, especially since there are enough great personalities in Ukraine, whose names should be imprinted on the map of Crimea! Moreover, many Crimeans gave their lives for the Ukrainian flag to fly over Crimea. We remember the hero of Ukraine Reshat Ametov, political prisoner Dzhemil Gafarov, military man Stanislav Karachevskyy, political prisoner and military man Hennadii Afanasiev! And there are hundreds and thousands of such names!
The Crimean Tatar Resource Center suggests already now to think about in whose honor it is possible to rename the streets in Crimea. Friends, we urge you to offer your options with the obligatory substantiation of your opinion (in addition to the first name and last name, add links by which you can learn more about the merits of the person after whom the street, square, square, etc. should be named)!