Pushkin must fall: monuments to Russia’s national poet under threat in Ukraine

A monument to Pushkin stands in Pushkin park in central Kyiv. Photograph: Ed Ram/The Guardian

The seated sculpture of Alexander Pushkin on Peremohy Avenue in central Kyiv is living on borrowed time – and not only because of the threat of Russian missiles.

Unprotected by sandbags and hoardings, unlike the capital’s better-loved monuments, the statue of Russia’s national poet is covered by spray-painted graffiti.