Dnipropetrovsk set to be “renamed” in honour of St Peter

The city of Dnipropetrovsk, located in south-central Ukraine, is set to be “renamed” Dnipropetrovsk in honour of the Apostle Peter.

In a session of the Dnipropetrovsk City Council on 29 December, deputies voted to appeal to the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, to request that Dnipropetrovsk be formally renamed within the framework of the country’s decommunisation laws.

The move would see the city still named Dnipropetrovsk, but the meaning of this name officially changed. Dnipropetrovsk would no longer be named in honour of Soviet statesman Grigory Petrovsky, but of the Apostle Peter.

33 deputies voted for the change, with the decision drawing support from representatives of the Opposition Bloc, the Petro Poroshenko Bloc and Public Power.

However, acting deputy mayor Alexander Sanzhara has disputed the legality of the council session.

Earlier this year, Ukraine adopted a set of decommunisation laws that that outlaw communist and Soviet symbols.

Source: BBC and LB.ua (in Russian)