Lenin statue removed from Ukrainian-controlled Russian town

An ancient monument to Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin lost its face after Ukrainian forces advanced into the area.

The silver monument in the town of Sudzha, depicting Lenin standing with his hand in his pocket, was missing much of his face and head after Ukraine took control of the area on Thursday.

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy published a photo of the empty pedestal in the town square where the statue once stood, claiming it was removed after being damaged by Ukrainian artillery.

“The decommunization process continues,” reads the photo’s caption.

“And in Sudza too.”

Sudzha is a city in the Kursk region of Russia.

Nearly 7,000 statues of Lenin were erected across Russia during the Soviet era, and an estimated 6,000 of them still exist.

Since 2013, Ukraine has demolished most of its communist monuments.

The only remaining statue of Lenin is said to be in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.