Ukrainian authorities have begun demolishing a monument in Kyiv to symbolise friendship between Russia and Ukraine.
The People’s Friendship Arch, which is located in the capital of Kyiv, was installed in 1982 to commemorate the reunification of Ukraine and Russia.
Perched on a hill overlooking the Dnieper River, the iconic landmark consists of a rainbow-shaped arch, a bronze statue depicting Russian and Ukrainian workers and a granite stone slab.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Russia had “marked” its attitude to Ukraine with a “barbaric desire to destroy our state and peaceful Ukrainians”.
Mr Klitschko wrote: “We are dismantling eight metres of metal of the so-called ‘friendship of two peoples’.
“And what is symbolic – when they tried to lift the sculpture with a crane, the head of a Russian worker fell off.”
The move is part of an overhaul of Russian references across the city.
Around 60 more monuments related to the Soviet Union and Russia would be taken down and over 460 streets would be renamed across the capital.
