The targeting of colonial-era monuments in some Western nations has prompted activists in Russia and Ukraine to reflect on how their own countries dealt with Soviet-era statues and, in some cases, to ask whether it was good enough. Protesters have toppled or vandalised statues in the United States, Britain, Belgium and elsewhere in recent weeks in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement against racism and police brutality. Statues to Soviet leaders such as Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin became controversial for many after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 because of large-scale human rights abuses committed during decades of Communist rule.
