The personality of military commander Mikhail Kutuzov and all objects associated with his name in Ukraine have been declared propaganda of "Russian imperialism", according to materials from the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance.
According to Ukrainian law, the authorities must "decommunize" objects in the country that bear the commander's name.
Mikhail Kutuzov (1747-1813) was a Russian military leader and the first full knight of the Order of St. George (1812). He fought a decisive battle at the village of Borodino, as a result of which the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte failed to defeat the Russian forces. Kutuzov decided to abandon Moscow without a fight, which allows it to preserve its troops and move on to a war of attrition.
The renaming of streets and the removal of monuments to Soviet and Russian figures in Ukraine began in 2015 after the adoption of the so-called decommunization law. Since 2022, this policy has intensified significantly. Monuments to Russian figures are being demolished throughout Ukraine, streets named after Russian writers, artists, and scientists are being renamed, and references to the contribution of the Soviet people to the victory in World War II are being removed.