Ukrainian city decides against ‘cancelling’ ex-Soviet leader

The late secretary-general of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, has retained the title of honorary citizen of Dnepr, formerly known as Dnepropetrovsk, after the Ukrainian city’s authorities ruled not to deprive him of the status.

The decision came in response to an online petition launched by the city’s residents in May. As of September 13, the petition had received only 41 out of the 3,000 signatures required to receive an official response, but the city authorities decided to review it anyway.

The petition’s authors argued that Brezhnev, who was born near Dnepr, had to be relieved of the title under the Ukrainian law “On the condemnation of the Communist and National Socialist (Nazi) Totalitarian Regimes.”

The Dnepr administration, however, stated that there were no grounds to deprive the former Soviet leader of his title. The authorities noted that Brezhnev was awarded the title of “honorary citizen of the city of Dnepropetrovsk” in 1979. This title, however, ceased to exist in 2017 after the city was renamed to Dnepr.

The authorities pointed out that the old title could only be removed in two cases: After a personal appeal from the citizen in question or after a conviction against them entered into legal force. Furthermore, they noted that the Ukrainian law on the condemnation of totalitarian regimes was adopted only in 2015, meaning that it did not apply to local government documents adopted or issued before 1991.

In May, the Kiev City Council came to a different conclusion when it decided to deprive the late Ukrainian-born Soviet leader of his title of honorary citizen of Kiev. Brezhnev was awarded the title several months before his death in 1982 after he opened the 62-meter-tall Motherland Monument dedicated to the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

“This decision is another step towards eliminating the legacy of the former Communist regime,” a statement issued by Kiev’s authorities read, adding that it was made in line with the country’s “decommunization” law of 2015.

Brezhnev was born in 1907 in the Russian Empire, on the territory of present-day Ukraine. His hometown was Kamenskoye, located near the city of Yekaterinoslav, later renamed Dnepropetrovsk and currently known as Dnepr.

In 1964, Brezhnev replaced Nikita Khrushchev as secretary-general of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and also became chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in 1977. He occupied both of the highest-ranking positions in the country until his death at the age of 75 in 1982.

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