The monument to Bulgakov on Andriivskyy Uzviz in Kyiv has been removed
A monument to Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov, which had stood for many years on Andriivskyy Uzviz near the author’s museum, has been dismantled in Kyiv. The decision to remove it from public space had previously been endorsed by the Kyiv City Council.
The issue of the Bulgakov monument’s presence in the capital’s center has been actively debated in recent years, and the final decision became part of the process of decolonization and the removal of symbols of Russian imperial policy from public spaces.
Why the Bulgakov monument was dismantled in Kyiv in 2026
One of the key reasons for the dismantling was the conclusion of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, published in the spring of 2024.
The institute’s experts concluded that Mikhail Bulgakov held imperialist views and had a negative attitude toward the Ukrainian national movement.
The UINP’s conclusion noted that the writer:
viewed the Ukrainian quest for independence negatively;
was critical of Ukrainian statehood;
demonstrated a dismissive attitude toward Ukrainian culture;
supported imperial narratives regarding Ukraine.
The institute emphasized that sites dedicated to Bulgakov could be viewed as symbols of Russian imperial policy.
Kyiv City Council decided to dismantle the Bulgakov
monument Following the publication of the UIPN’s conclusion, discussions began in the capital regarding the future of the monument and other sites associated with the writer.
Subsequently, the Kyiv City Council received a petition calling for the removal of references to Bulgakov from public spaces. After reviewing the matter, a decision was made to dismantle the monument on Andriivsky Uzviz.
The Kyiv City Council emphasizes that such steps are part of a broader policy of rethinking historical heritage and rejecting symbols associated with Russian imperial ideology.
For Kyiv residents and visitors to the capital, the removal of the monument marked another stage in the process of decolonizing the urban space, which has continued since the start of the full-scale war. At the same time, discussions surrounding the figure of Bulgakov remain among the most heated of the cultural and historical issues related to the legacy of figures who lived and worked in Kyiv.
A video of the monument’s removal was published by Suspilne journalist Kateryna Nekrecha.
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