The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, responded to a petition to replace the monument to Russian Empress Catherine II in Odesa with a monument to American gay porn actor Billy Herrington.
The President referred to the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated September 8, 2004 No. 1181, according to which monuments of local importance are established by the decision of local executive bodies or local self-government bodies. According to Zelenskyi, the monument to Catherine II ("Founders of Odesa") was erected in accordance with the decision of the Odesa City Council dated July 4, 2007.
"In view of what was stated and taking into account the norms of the Law of Ukraine "On Local Self-Government in Ukraine", I appealed to the Odesa City Council with a request to consider the issues raised in the petition in accordance with its competence," Zelensky said.
In a letter to the Odesa City Council, the president also wrote about the importance of protecting national interests and working out issues related to cleaning the public space from objects and monuments related to the Russian imperial and Soviet heritage, which consolidates Russian propaganda anti-Ukrainian narratives in Ukraine.
- On July 12, a petition entitled "In Odesa, replace the monument to Catherine II with a monument to American actor Billy Herrington" gathered 25,000 signatures. According to the legislation, after that, within 3 months from the day of its publication, the president had to consider it.