Andrij Plachotnjuk explains that he is honored to participate in Monday’s inauguration ceremony. Around Europe, similar name changes have taken place after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine at dawn on 24 February. These are often places and streets next to the respective countries’ Russian embassies. This coordinated action has a strong symbolic value, according to him.
– It shows that the world agrees in its support for Ukraine, it also sends a clear signal to the Russian Federation to stop the war. The unity is extremely important here, says Andrij Plachotnjuk, who is convinced that even symbolic actions can lead to concrete changes.
– All actions are important. Every newspaper article, every statement from a politician, every little street sign. Everything is important for Ukraine.
What are your hopes for the future?
– Our only hope is that the war will end and that we will have peace in Ukraine, says Andrij Plachotnjuk.
After the Russian invasion began, a large number of proposals for name changes in Stockholm have been received from citizens. Several of them have concerned a change of name on Gjörwellsgatan where the Russian embassy is located.
After a decision In Stockholm’s city planning committee, part of Mariebergsparken, which is located right next to the embassy, is now changing its name to Free Ukraine’s location. Since February 24, when many Ukrainians gathered in the park to show their anger and grief, the area has become the site of countless protests against the war.
Finansborgarrådet Anna König Jerlmyr (M) says that the name change is partly about showing solidarity with the Ukrainian people, but also about distancing oneself from the war.
Do you hope this will be perceived as a provocation?
– It has been part of the purpose, to show that we do not accept this action from the Russian state.
Has the city received any reactions from the embassy?
– I have noticed that official statements from the Kremlin have pointed out that it is about an obsessed on our part. But we take it easy. It just shows that our message has reached us and that the whole Western world is now closing in and showing our abhorrence of the Russian war.
The significance of name changes has been discussed. But Anna König Jerlmyr, like Andrij Plachotnjuk, emphasizes that symbolic deeds have a value.
– This is not the most important thing we do. Ensuring that Ukrainian children receive a good education and that Ukrainians get into work is much more important. This is a symbolic act. But it should not be underestimated.
Mariebergsparken was named in 1938 after the district where it is located. The district was in turn named after the ore farm that was built on the shores of Lake Mälaren in the 1640s.
Name changes after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
In Vilnius, Lithuania, there is now a street of Ukrainian heroes.
On March 24, a decision was made to change the name of the street in front of the Russian embassy in Prague to the street of Ukrainian heroes.
In early March, it changed its former name the intersection outside the Russian embassy in Oslo name to Ukraine placefollowing a decision in the municipal council.
The area outside the Russian consulate in Toronto, Canada has been named the Free Ukraine Square.
In the Albanian capital Tirana, a stretch of street has been named the Street of Free Ukraine.
The square in front of the Russian Consulate General in Krakow, Poland, is now called Free Ukraine Square. In Poland in particular, several other places and streets have changed their name.
In Riga, Latvia, the Russian Embassy is now located on the street of Ukrainian Independence.
In April, a landmark in Reykjavik, 50 meters from the Russian embassy, changed its name to Kievtorget.
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