Ukraine’s trident coat of arms glimmered on the shield of a gigantic statue overlooking Kyiv on Sunday (Aug 6), after construction workers winched it up to replace a Soviet hammer and sickle.
The operation to put the trident in place of the Soviet emblem on the 62m-tall steel figure of a woman, known as the Fatherland Mother, began last month, as Ukraine purges its public areas of reminders of Russian and Soviet rule.
Workers lowered the hammer and sickle from the Soviet emblem that originally decorated the shield on Tuesday.
On a bright sunny morning shortly after 6am (3am GMT), construction workers and industrial climbers winched the 7.6m-tall trident into place, pending final adjustments.
They posed waving the Ukrainian flag on top of the shield.
The silvery monument stands high on the bank of the Dnieper River, brandishing a sword and shield.
The tallest monument in Ukraine measuring 102m including its base, it was erected in 1981 as a memorial to the Soviet victory in World War II.
The statue is also set to be renamed Ukraine Mother because its current name has Soviet associations. The hammer and sickle will become a museum exhibit.
The museum’s general director, Yuriy Savchuk, told AFP that he had received a message of congratulations from the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the raising of the trident and hoped the leader would attend an official opening.
“It’s really nice that we’ve completed a certain stage of the work,” he told AFP.
“It’s a beautiful, sunny day, the Dnieper (river) is sparkling, there is no air alert. The trident is on the shield, Glory to Ukraine!” he said, after shaking hands with the construction team and passing them Zelenskyy’s message.
AFP
