Vladimir Lenin statues in Ukraine, Moldova, Transnistira, and Berlin are a coded barometer for Russian expansion.
In 2015, twenty four years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine instituted a “De-communization Act”. Two Lenin statues survived this law, one in Chernobyl could not be removed until 2022, and a last one remains in an IT park on the outskirts of Odessa, encased in a black polyester resin rendering of Darth Vader by Oleksandr Milov. Outlines of Lenin’s wide lapels, long “Lenin coat,” and baggy pants are present in the form of Darth Vader including a rolled up Communist Manifesto in the figure’s right hand, now a collapsed lightsaber.
Star Wars has had a presence in Ukrainian politics since 2012. Characters including Darth Vader have run in local as well as presidential elections under the Internet Party of Ukraine (UIP). Russia has long been seen as a vast galactic military empire locked in combat with the local rebel alliance for years prior to the formal invasion of Ukraine.
Transnistria has 19 statues, second only to Russia and Belarus. Transnistria, is a largely unrecognized state located west of Ukraine, which broke away from Moldova in 1992. Russian is spoken, and not only Lenin continues to be embraced; many signs, symbols, and names from the Soviet era remain as well. These remnants demonstrate an alignment between the tiny gateway state and Putin’s Russia and have made Transnistria, renamed Pridnestyrovie in 1990, a minor international touristic destination.
Moldova’s remaining statue is in a far corner of the capital in a deserted Ex-po Center, along with a giant head of Marx, and a statue of Bulgarian Communist leader Giorgi Dimitrov. The Lenin stood at the Chisinau Government House until 2017, when it was decapitated and removed causing objections by the Moldovan Communist and Socialist Parties. In 2022 the statue was installed in its present location in the name of education and national heritage.
Three Lenin statues remain in Berlin. A 62 foot tall Lenin stood in the Friedrichshein neighborhood until it was removed in 1992. While some preservationists and local residents objected to its removal, it was dismantled and buried in a secret forest location until 2009 when its giant head was unearthed and moved to the Spandau Citadel where it has been on display since 2016. A second Lenin stands in the parking lot of Zapf Movers, and children climb on the last one, a bust of Lenin in a Potsdam playground.
Andrea Robbins and Max Becher 2025
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