Odesa deputies back decision to dismantle monument to Catherine II

The city council's press service said this in a post on the Telegram messaging app, Ukrinform reports.

"At the 16th session of the Odesa City Council, deputies supported the decision to dismantle and move the monument to the 'founders of Odesa'," the report said.

The city council also decided to dismantle and move the monument to Russian commander Alexander Suvorov.

The monument to Catherine II was earlier surrounded by a seven-meter-high fence. It was repeatedly doused with red paint, an executioner's cap put on it, and a hangman's noose attached to the hand of the empress's sculpture.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the Odesa City Council to consider the proposal to dismantle the monument to Catherine II.