Lozovoy demands removal of Kovpak bas-relief in Kyiv — Mосiychuk condemns the proposal

Former Verkhovna Rada deputy from the Radical Party Andriy Lozovoy has called for the dismantling of a memorial plaque bearing a bas-relief of Soviet partisan commander Sydir Kovpak from a building in central Kyiv on Lypska Street, where Kovpak once lived.

His former party colleague Ihor Mосiychuk sharply criticized the proposal.

Lozovoy published his appeal on his Facebook page.

“In the very center of Kyiv, on Lypska Street, the bas-relief of the pro-Russian butcher Kovpak still inexplicably catches the eye — a man who developed a fondness for killing Ukrainians back in World War One (and was decorated by the tsar, by the way). What is this for?! For the benefit of those who are waiting for Russia?” — wrote Lozovoy.

Mосiychuk, for his part, called Kovpak a symbol of Ukrainian resistance to the German occupiers in World War Two and published a response on his Telegram channel.

“By renouncing Kovpak, Lozovoy and his few like-minded individuals are proposing to take the side of the German occupiers and their collaborators — the police auxiliaries — to take the side of Reich Commissioner of Ukraine Erich Koch, who exterminated Ukrainians on ethnic grounds,” — wrote Mосiychuk.

The former MP also reminded readers that Lozovoy’s parents lived in the USSR, and that his grandfather Valeriy Lozovoy was a well-known poet and composer, a member of the Russian Writers’ Union, whose songs were performed by Soviet pop stars.

“In our Ukrainian history there must certainly be a place for both Roman Shukhevych and Sydir Kovpak. Any attempt to strike either of them from history is a direct path to civil war, to death, to the destruction of Ukraine,” — Mосiychuk believes.

In addition, Mосiychuk proposed introducing a 25-year moratorium on public discussions and decisions regarding issues of language, religion, and history.

Earlier, head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Budanov had said that the remains of World War Two Soviet pilot Ivan Kozhedub were planned to be placed in the Ukrainian National Pantheon, while the remains of partisan Sydir Kovpak were not, since he “worked with the NKVD.”