Where is the place for Shevchenko?

The authorities of Krasnoarmiisk (Donetsk oblast) do not deny that the monument to Shevchenko will be erected in the town. However, since 2006 they have not decided yet where exactly. The community believes that the monument to Kobzar has to be installed on the central Shybankov Square, however, the local authorities have another vision: after the project was accepted by the former mayor (on February 22, 2006) it has been changed and the future monument has been moved to the town outskirts, in a garden in Gorky Street. The community is dissatisfied with this decision. The activists do not think that the new place is viable for erecting a monument since it is not the cultural center of the town.

In one of her appeals the activist Olha KVITKA emphasized: “This is not a personal question but a national one. We, citizens of Krasnoarmiisk, have been dreaming to have a monument to Shevchenko in our native town since the first day of Independence. In December 2005 we addressed the then mayor with the initiative to erect a monument. Every conscientious citizen has to see their heroes and be proud of them. Creating a park and erecting a monument not in the promenade area is not reasonable in our opinion.”

The monument was supposed to be opened before the poet’s jubilee at the beginning of 2014. However, the question of the place for the monument is still in limbo.