A Soviet-era statue of a Red Army commander taken down in Kyiv

By SRDJAN NEDELJKOVIC
Associated Press

KYIV (AP) — City workers in Kyiv have dismantled an equestrian statue of a Red Army commander. It’s the latest Soviet monument to be removed in the Ukrainian capital since Russia launched its full-scale invasion last year. The statue of Mykola Shchors on horseback, erected in the 1950s, was taken down from a pedestal in downtown Kyiv on Saturday to the applause of a small group of onlookers. City officials said it will be stored in the State Aviation Museum. An effort to remove symbols of the Soviet era, which many Ukrainians equate with Russian imperialism, accelerated after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022.