Bulgakov Canceled

On June 4, 2026, a statue to famed Soviet author Mikhail Bulgakov was dismantled in Kyiv.

According to pro-democracy outlet Radio Svoboda, the decision to remove the monument and several other structures associated with Russia and the USSR was made by the Kyiv City Council back in December 2025. Per the initiative, monuments to composer Mikhail Glinka and poet Anna Akhmatova, the “Kyiv – Hero City” sign with a five-pointed Soviet star, a commemorative stone marking the 100th anniversary of Lenin’s birth, a memorial plaque to composer Pyotor Tchaikovsky, and others associated with Russia will be dismantled or altered.

But it was the monument to Bulgakov that immediately sparked the most controversy, and now that the decision has been carried out, the scandal has flared up with renewed intensity. 

Bulgakov, who spent his entire adult life in Moscow, was born in Kyiv and grew up there. The house on Kyiv’s main historic street – Andriyivskyy Descent – where the writer’s family lived for more than ten years, became a museum in the 1990s. This house is described in the famous novel “The White Guard,” dedicated to Russian emigres forced to flee the Bolsheviks; it was a symbol of a lost paradise and a reminder of Bulgakov’s enduring aversion to Soviet reality. In those days, no one cared much about the writer’s imperialist views, even though in that very novel he speaks disparagingly of Ukraine’s national liberation movement.

The monument was erected just at the museum entrance in 2007. For most people, this rather kitschy urban sculpture was more a symbol of the writer’s timeless popularity than of the influence of the Russian world, though there were those who objected even then. And as the conflict with Russia escalated, Bulgakov’s legacy, with his place in the pantheon of great Russian writers, began to irritate Ukrainians more and more. With the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the disputes turned into a campaign for canceling, culminating in the monument’s removal. 

Russian television reacted to the event in its usual manner. According to Channel One host Yevgeny Popov, these developments are not a natural consequence of the tragedy of war, but are linked to “historical revisionism” and a “campaign to destroy our shared historical heritage.” Popov states that this campaign originated in Germany with its fascist past and has spread “far beyond” the country’s borders, and “Kyiv is acting in accordance with the current agenda.”

The Russian opposition also reacted in a rather characteristic way. As usual, the liberal community split into two irreconcilable groups: one outraged by the demolition of the monument, and the other outraged by those who are outraged. 

“I consider the demolition of the monument to the great Bulgakov a thoroughly foolish act,” said Maxim Kantor, a writer and a former host on Ekho Moskvy radio, on his Facebook page. “Ukraine should be proud that Bulgakov is associated with Kyiv.” Kantor also stated that “no idiot would ever think of tearing down the monument to Lesya Ukrainka in Moscow.” 

“I couldn’t find words to convey my disgust at the arrogance, the lack of even minimal empathy, the extreme insecurity, and the obsession with one’s own little grievances,” comments Dima Zitzer, a Russian educator and public figure, on such statements, ”and also at the instant willingness to erase the war and killings in Ukraine from “cultural” discourse. Of course: everything of ours is being destroyed… Finally, we can take offense to our heart’s content too!”