For almost a year now, the Transparent Cities program has been studying the process of renaming toponyms in Ukrainian cities. An update of the data in the new Decolonization Guide shows that Ukrainian cities are changing the names of toponyms associated with Russia or the Soviet Union.  And their number is growing! 

In the first 6 months of 2023, 22 city councils renamed 959 toponyms.  In 5 more cities (Kolomyia, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi), public consultations on new names are taking place, with plans to rename at least 205 toponyms. Interestingly, the Kolomyia City Council is collecting suggestions from residents about names that have no informative, historical, or memorial value. For example, Budivelna, Zavodska, Kabelna, Fabrychna, Molodizhna, Pivdenna.

In late May 2023, 23 city councils have not yet provided information on the decolonization of toponyms. 4 cities are occupied, or there are hostilities in them (Bakhmut, Mariupol, Melitopol, and Rubizhne). However, it would be a mistake to assume that in the remaining 19 cities, where renaming has not yet been recorded, these processes are being hampered by local authorities. For example, 17 out of 19 cities had their toponyms renamed over the past year, ranging from a few to almost two hundred, and now toponymic commissions can develop new options. In addition, some cities have already completed the decolonization process, such as Mukachevo City Council. 

Instead, in total, during 2022-2023, 42 city councils out of the 50 studied renamed 3,225 place names.

Currently, most place names have been renamed in the following cities 

• Kyiv (316),
• Kramatorsk (308),
• Vinnytsia (277),
• Kremenchuk (195),
• Sumy (188).

Interestingly, Kramatorsk had the largest number of toponyms renamed at one time—307 streets and 1 park. At the same time, in Vinnytsia, which has already completed the decolonization of urban space (streets, public gardens, squares, green areas, etc.), 45 public transport stops were also renamed in 2023. Meanwhile, in Sumy, 7 schools named after Soviet-era figures were renamed. 

The program recorded that there are fewer renamed toponyms in cities in the West of Ukraine, as the processes of decommunization and derussification had taken place there before 2022, since the Independence.