The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20160820204138/http://raining-lenins.silk.co/
"Raining Lenins"

euro



"Raining Lenins"

Interactive database mapping the fall of Lenin statues in Ukraine, and the existence of Lenin/Stalin Monuments across the World



After the fall of the USSR, across all the ex-Soviet Republics people began to demolish Communist-Era monuments of Stalin and Lenin, as a symbolic act to break from the past and the regime. It's actually Ukraine that paved the way, after it dismantled the first Lenin monument in the USSR on the 1st of August of 1990. Statistics report that, in the country, thousand of Lenin statues were destroyed or removed during the 1990's. We have collected and structured data from the Ukraninan Wikipedia article tracking these episode, translated in English, added location data and de-duplicated events. We've then  imported all of this Silk, so that you can quickly query the information, explore patterns, visualize data interactively, share it all in a few clicks on social media, or embed the (responsive) graphs online. (Note that Wikipedia lists about 660 known events, as it s quite hard to track and source every single episode)

How to Use This Silk: Browse the charts and maps below. Click "Explore" anywhere on the site to go into visualization and filtering mode. Search for individual pages or entities in the top search box.

Fist three removals of Lenin monuments in Ukraine

Select values from the filters to customize the visualization. Reset them to see the overall statistics. Click "Explore" to transform this into another type of chart, change the variables plotted, add dynamic filters.

In the course of the years this initial enthusiasm stopped, and actually new monuments began to be built. 

New or rebuilt Lenin monuments

Select values from the filters to customize the visualization. Reset them to see the overall statistics. Click "Explore" to transform this into another type of chart, change the variables plotted, add dynamic filters.

In 2009 a President Yushchenko passed a law reiterating the need to remove Communist-Era symbols from public places, especially those dedicated to people involved in the Holodomor. However not many official initiatives were taken in this direction, and at the end of 2013 the Ukrainian population began to take things in their hands. Like in the 1990s, another wave of "Leninopad" spurred the country (literally "Lenin fall", in English - as the destruction of statues of Lenin is called by the locals).  With the Euromaidan protests, the pro-Russia rebels, and the War in the East, these episodes continue on an almost daily basis.

You can use the filters in the following map to track their course.

Mapping Leninopad events 1990-2015

Select values from the filters to customize the visualization. Reset them to see the overall statistics. Click "Explore" to transform this into another type of chart, change the variables plotted, add dynamic filters.

Surprisingly, it's Kryvi Rih, in Eastern Ukraine the place with most reported removed statues (12). The capital, theater of the Euromaiden revolution comes second, with eight - of which six in 2014.

Number of Leninopad events per city (top 12)

Select values from the filters to customize the visualization. Reset them to see the overall statistics. Click "Explore" to transform this into another type of chart, change the variables plotted, add dynamic filters.

On a regional level, Dnipropetrovsk and Khmelnytsky are the provinces where most of the events occurred

Number of Leninopad events per region

Select values from the filters to customize the visualization. Reset them to see the overall statistics. Click "Explore" to transform this into another type of chart, change the variables plotted, add dynamic filters.

According to the events reported in the Wikipedia article, the 22nd of February 2014, a day full of events for the Euromaidan revolution, was an exciting day for Leninopad enthusiasts, with at least 136 statues toppled throughout the nation.

Timeline of Leninopad events since 2013 Number of Leninopad events per city

Select values from the filters to customize the visualization. Reset them to see the overall statistics. Click "Explore" to transform this into another type of chart, change the variables plotted, add dynamic filters.

Now, one year after that date, things have certainly calmed down, but violent removals of Lenin statues in Ukraine hasn't ceased at all.

The five most recent events

Select values from the filters to customize the visualization. Reset them to see the overall statistics. Click "Explore" to transform this into another type of chart, change the variables plotted, add dynamic filters.

Stalin and Lenin monuments outside Ukraine

Note, this data excludes the untraceable number of Lenin and Stalin statues in Russia. Sources for the following information are this and this links. 

As monuments fall in Ukraine, Lenin and Stalin statues populate the world, even in unexpected places.

Stalin and Lenin monuments around the World

Select values from the filters to customize the visualization. Reset them to see the overall statistics. Click "Explore" to transform this into another type of chart, change the variables plotted, add dynamic filters.

Interactive Gallery of Lenin and Stalin Monuments worldwide

Select values from the filters to customize the visualization. Reset them to see the overall statistics. Click "Explore" to transform this into another type of chart, change the variables plotted, add dynamic filters.

Made with Silk

Silk is a place to explore the world through data. Silk displays data as beautiful interactive charts, maps and web pages. Create your own free Silk now.

The Silk team built this as a demonstration project. You can contact us at feedback@silk.co.

Refer to the original analysis by NerdWallet for information on the methodology and sources