“Overcoming the Colonial Legacy.” 49 streets in Dnipro received new names: why and in which districts

49 streets of Dnipro received new names. The MPs voted in favor of the project to change the name of the toponyms at the 41st session of the City Council on September 20. In particular, the street named after the Soviet physicist Kurchatov was derussified. Now it is in honor of the 128th Ground Defense Brigade.

Spokesman Oleksandr Kurbatov says: they will defend Ukraine from spring 2022.

“ Changing the name is very important for those who are now at zero. In such an atmosphere, there is burnout and fatigue. And a person must understand that he is needed, that he has not been forgotten," he says.

Changing street names to toponyms related to Ukraine's recent history is important, says Serhiy Volynets, head of the Ukrainian Center for Historical and Cultural Strategies. He says: even if someone did not propagate Russian narratives, his image was used by the leaders of the aggressor state.

“The commemorative signs that have survived from the times of the Soviet Union and even from the times of the Russian Empire are all signs with which the empire tried to mark its territory. For us to be completely free, it is necessary to overcome this colonial legacy", says the expert.

What is known about changing street names in Dnipro

Eight toponyms were changed in the Amur-Nizhnyodnipro region in Dnipro, 13 in Novokodatsky, 1 street name was changed in the Industrial District, 12 new toponyms in Shevchenkovsky, 6 names in Chechelivsky, 7 in Samarskiy, 4 in Sobory and one more in Downtown.

A detailed list can be found here.

In total, since the beginning of the massive invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, more than 250 streets and alleys have been deussified in Dnipro. In the city, according to the head of the working group at the Toponymy Commission, Valentin Starostin, they plan to change the names of about two hundred more.