The Parliamentary Committee on Regional Development supported the renaming of seven more cities and 44 villages whose names do not meet the standards of the Ukrainian language or refer to Russian or Soviet names, lawmaker Roman Lozynskyi wrote on X on April 4.
Ukraine's parliament outlawed most Soviet and communist symbols, street names, and monuments as part of a decommunization process in 2015, and many cities, which had received new names under the Soviet authorities, were renamed to reflect their Ukrainian identity.
President Volodymyr Zelensky then signed a law in April 2023 that banned naming geographic sites in Ukraine after Russian figures or historical events in response to the Russian invasion.
The cities to be renamed include Krasnohrad in Kharkiv Oblast. The city, whose name refers to the color red in Russian, was called Kostyantynohrad until it was renamed by the Bolsheviks in 1922. The parliamentary committee proposed to change the name to Berestyn.
The city of Vatutine in Cherkasy Oblast, a reference to Soviet General Nikolai Vatutin, was proposed to be renamed Bahacheve.
Sievierodonetsk in Luhansk Oblast, which was occupied by Russia in the summer of 2022, will be changed to Siverskodonetsk to reflect the Ukrainian spelling of the city.
Pervomaisk in Luhansk Oblast and Pervomaiskyi in Kharkiv Oblast should be renamed Sokolohirsk and Zlatopil, Pershotravensk in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to Shakhtarske, and the city of Druzhba in Sumy Oblast to Zhuravske.
The decision still requires final approval by Ukraine's Parliament.
Alexander Khrebet
