Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People
Арка свободи українського народу | |
The arch in 2022 | |
| Location | Khreshchatyi Park, Pechersk Raion, Kyiv, Ukraine |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 50°27′16″N 30°31′48″E / 50.45444°N 30.53000°E |
| Designer | Oleksandr Skoblikov (sculptor); Serhiy Myrhorodsky, Kostyantyn Sydorov, I.Ivanov (all - architects) |
| Type | complex of three sculptural elements of the monument |
| Material | metal, granite, bronze |
| Height | 35 m (115 ft) |
| Beginning date | 1978 |
| Completion date | 1982 |
| Opening date | Anniversary date of the October Revolution (7 November 1982) |
| Dedicated to | Ukrainian people Pereiaslav Agreement (originally) |
| Dismantled date | Partially: 26 April 2022 30 April 2024 |
| Because of Ukrainian decommunization laws it shall not be rebuilt in its current form. | |
The Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People (Ukrainian: Арка свободи українського народу, romanized: Arka svobody ukrainskoho narodu, IPA: [ˈɑrkɐ swoˈbɔdɪ ʊkrɐˈjinʲsʲkoɦo ˈnɑrodʊ]), formerly known as Peoples' Friendship Arch (Арка дружби народів, Arka druzhby narodiv), is a monument in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It was opened on 7 November 1982, amidst the celebration of the 1,500th Anniversary of Kyiv, to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the USSR and the "reunification of Ukraine with Russia in 1654" (the Pereiaslav Agreement as it was known in the Soviet Union).
The sculpture under the arch, which depicted a Ukrainian worker and a Russian worker standing together, was dismantled in April 2022 amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 17 April 2024 the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy removed the official status of the monument and allowed its dismantling. On 25 April 2024 the Kyiv City State Administration announced that the monument would not be demolished but would "receive a new concept." This despite the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory had been advocating "complete dismantling." On 30 April 2024 the sculptural composition (weighing more than 6,000 tons) of 20 elements that honoured the Pereiaslav Agreement was dismantled.