Ukraine replaces Soviet coat of arms with trident on towering Kyiv landmark

By The Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine has replaced the Soviet emblem that once adorned one of the nation’s most recognizable landmarks with the country’s coat of arms. Erected in 1981, the Mother Ukraine monument rises 200 feet above the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, holding a shield that was once decorated with a hammer and sickle. The old coat of arms was replaced Sunday with the Ukrainian trident, a symbolic move reclaiming the country’s cultural identity from the Soviet past amid Russia’s ongoing invasion. The change is part of a years-long movement throughout Ukraine to shed symbols of the communist past, which has accelerated following Russia’s invasion of the country in February 2022.