Reminders

Whereas Hungary and other former Eastern Block countries have taken down and removed all reminders of the Communist period - Budapest and Prague having gathered statues and placed them outside of the city, as a tourist attraction - Ukraine is one of the countries that has kept, even polished theirs.

All over Kiev, we saw reminders and symbols of the Soviet Union, to which Ukraine belonged for almost 70 years. The hammer and sickle, the communist star, and even statues of Lenin can be found throughout the country.
I find these things intriguing, and I can understand in a way why they keep these things. The Soviet era is a part of Ukraine's history, and not something they feel a need to forget or pretend didn't happen.

Here are a few pictures I took while I was there:

Statue of Lenin in the main square of Zhytomyr:


Soviet tank on display in Kiev:

Hammer and sickle:

Star on the top:

Memorial to the Great Patriotic War:




Tanks:

Mother Motherland statue - with Hammer and Sickle on shield:

Leningrad:

Gate: