Volodymyr vs. Vladimir: How rival statues explain the Russia-Ukraine conflict

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/02/ [login to see] /volodymyr-vs-vladimir-how-rival-statues-explain-the-russia-ukraine-conflict
One of Ukraine's most legendary figures is Volodymyr the Great. He ruled Kyiv from the year 980 to 1015, launching major building projects, pulling together divided tribes and introducing Christianity. Today, he's honored with a soaring statue in Kyiv overlooking the Dnipro River that bisects the city.

Yet Russia also claims him as central to its political and religious history. They know him by the Russian version of his name — Vladimir the Great. Six years ago, Russia built an even larger statue just outside the Kremlin walls.

This isn't just some minor historical tiff, with Russia trying to outdo Ukraine in monument building. Rather, it speaks to fundamentally different narratives about the past, and the debate over modern Russian and Ukrainian statehood playing out in the current conflict.

"Ukraine is not just a neighboring country for us," Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised speech on Feb. 21, just three days before Russian troops entered Ukraine. "It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture, and spiritual space."

In Ukraine's capital Kyiv, Volodymyr's statue is short walk from the office of the man who currently leads this country — another guy named Volodymyr — President Zelenskyy.