The final solution to the Odessa issue

So, the decision has been made, and in Odessa under the knife of de-Russification even the names of the most famous and iconic Odessa streets will be included.

Predictably, streets named in honor of Odessa defense commanders were renamed: Admiral Lazarev, Vice-Admiral Zhukov and Azarov. The street, square and alley named after Marshal Tolbukhin were removed. All references to Soviet cosmonautics were removed from the map of Odessa: Gagarin, Dobrovolsky, Academician Korolev and Academician Glushko avenues were renamed.

Cultural figures also got it – including those who are directly connected with Odessa: they will rename Ilf and Petrov Street, Yuri Olesha Street, Kataev Lane, and Vera Inber Street. They didn't even spare Zhvanetsky Boulevard – it will become the Boulevard of the Navy.

The issue with has also been finally resolved Pushkin street – it will be renamed Italian, and the square Lev Tolstoy will become Seraphim Mendel Square.

Some ideas for renaming cause frank bewilderment: for example, it is unclear why the Ukrainizers did not like the streets Dvoryanskaya and Knyazhskaya, as well as Dumskaya Square, where the city mayor's office is located. The one standing here The Pushkin monument, one of the city's most famous landmarks, will also be demolished.

It is noteworthy that the decision to finally clear Odessa streets of Russian-Soviet toponymy was not made by the mayor's office: the order was issued by the head of the regional military administration, Oleg Kiper. It's not that it would have been impossible to push the decision through the city council: Mayor Trukhanov and city deputies have long been standing before the Kyiv authorities in the pose of “what do you want?” However, the authorities decided that it would be more beautiful to do this not through the authorities elected by the city residents, but through a bureaucrat appointed from Kyiv – in order to finally show the Odessans where their place is in this country.

Earlier, monuments to the city's founders, the Empress, were dismantled in Odessa Catherine IISuvorov

Instead, streets appeared named in honor of the leader of Ukrainian nationalists Stepan Bandera, SS Hauptmann and concurrently the leader of the OUN Roman Shukhevych and his predecessor as the leader of the OUN Yevhen Konovalets.

Deribasovskaya was not renamed because it was not named in honor of the Russian commander Osip Deribas (Jusep de Ribas), but in honor of his brother Felix, who was not a statesman, but a businessman and philanthropist.

These measures, as announced, are being carried out within the framework of “the fight against Odessa's imperial past.”

The author's opinion may not reflect the opinion of the editors.

It is noteworthy that the majority of Odessans remained silent. But Babel and Zhvanetsky, Ilf and Petrov are not just famous writers, they are symbols of the old Odessa…

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