Vandalism becomes more and more common and usual phenomena for Ukrainians, Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Feldman considers.
“Only during several days in May I counted 5 resonant crimes committed by vandals, which normally would cause at least any reaction of the authorities in the civilized European state. However, in modern Ukraine, similar crimes remain unpunished in 99 percent of cases and are usually considered as the intrigues of ‘Kremlin agents.’
On the night of May 10, unknown persons destroyed the green installation of a Mexican artist Isa Carrillo. A week earlier, the empty pedestal, which once was a base for Lenin monument, was adorned with rosemary within the framework of the project “The Ritual of the Nature.” The artist explained her idea with the wish to remove an ideological tension of an empty pedestal with the help of the force of nature.
However, some ‘activists’ considered this compromise inappropriate, and, like a reminder of their ‘triumph,’ they ‘decommunized’ this eco-installation. By the way, the idea of Isa Carrillo was supported by the residents of Kyiv in the beginning of April, when they chose a winner within the framework of an open competition. However, the aggressive minority is confident that they have a right to decide for others. And this confidence, incredible as it may seem, is caused by their own lack of self-confidence. Psychologists say that vandalism is an attempt to restore the disturbed sense of control of the situation.
Those days, vandals in Kharkiv also defiled a mural devoted to the Heroes of Kruty, painting it with red, while in Borova, some persons defiled the monument to the victims of the World War II by writing a word ‘Nazi’ on it. On the night of May 11, in Chernivtsi, some unknown persons left a message on the memorial complex devoted to the memory of the victims of Jewish ghetto in form of swastika for everyone who states that neo-Nazism in modern Ukraine is a myth. Several days earlier, vandals abused a common grave of Soviet soldiers who liberated the cities.
What irritates the most is not the fact of vandalism, but the impunity of vandals. However, it looks like there is some ‘selective impunity:’ I remember how quickly the police managed to identify and bright to responsibility the hooligans who defiled in Kharkiv a memorial poster devoted to those who died during the ATO. And it is good, but why there is no similar efficiency and results towards the ‘far rightists’ vandals?
Ukraine is running the risk of becoming the country of prevailing vandalism, if the authorities don’t punish the criminals. After the events of 2013-2014, the notion of normal behaviour in Ukrainian society changed not for the better: the status of a ‘public activist’ or ‘patriot,’ for some reason, started to give carte blanche for illegal and amoral deeds. Before the adoption of the decommunization law, the ‘ideological vandalism’ with the silent approval of the authorities became a common phenomenon – starting from the destruction of the monuments and ending with their defilement. I think that the authorities have already come to understanding that they opened Pandora’s box undermining our national identity and legal order. But it doesn’t make much difference, because both the authorities and the society will need to make a lot of efforts to close it.
