Residents of Zaporizhya have decided to support the Ukrainian national soccer team by dressing the city statue of Lenin in the team’s jersey and placing a scarf into his hand raised to the sky.
“The question of supporting our team unites older and younger generations. We can’t take down the statue of Lenin simply to take it down. We have to engage in a dialogue about what will take its place instead. De jure this monument doesn’t exist, however physically it does. We have to prepare public opinion,” said Yaroslav Hryshyn, one of the organizers of the event.
Lenin was dressed in a jersey with the number 12 on its back -- team fans wear jerseys with this number.
Stoltenberg to visit Ukraine:
Kyiv says NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will visit Ukraine later this month, for the first time since taking office in March 2014.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin made the announcement on September 7 following talks in Brussels with Stoltenberg.
Klimkin said the date of the "symbolic" visit will be announced "in the coming days."
He also said Kyiv will “fully use the potential of the visit" to cement ties and boost cooperation with NATO, with Stoltenberg invited to attend a session of Ukraine's national security council.
"We will approve a number of strategic documents, including military doctrine," Klimkin said, adding that these will notably pave the way for NATO to open an embassy in Ukraine.
Russia has long been wary of closer ties between NATO and Ukraine, which is battling a separatist insurgency in the country’s east.