Cabinet resolution #778 of July 28, 2023 

Decision-maker: the Cabinet of Ministers 

Status: in effect since July 28, 2023 

Who is affected: residents of Ukraine, the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting, the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, and the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy 

Summary of the resolution: 

  • grants the State Committee of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine the power to enforce state regulations on affirming Ukrainian national and civic identity 
  • entrusts the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory with the following powers: 
    • to establish the National Commission for Rehabilitation and provide organizational, technical, and financial means necessary for its work 
    • to collect, aggregate, and publish information about the crimes (repressive measures) of Russian imperial policy against the Ukrainian people 
    • to issue explanations and recommendations on the implementation of the following laws: 
  • On the Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and the Decolonization of Toponymy 
  • On Rehabilitation of the Victims of the Repressions of the Communist Totalitarian Regime 1917-1991 
    • to create an expert commission that will issue expert conclusions on issues related to the implementation of the Law of Ukraine On the Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and the Decolonization of Toponymy 
    • to provide recommendations on whether an object of cultural heritage is a symbol of the communist totalitarian regime or Russian imperial policy 
    • to issue recommendations on the removal of an object of cultural heritage from the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine if it is a symbol of the communist totalitarian regime or a symbol of Russian imperial policy 
    • to collect, aggregate, and publish information about the facts and circumstances of the repressions of the communist totalitarian regime 1917-1991, about repressed persons and individuals who suffered from the repressions of the communist totalitarian regime 1917-1991. 
  • grants the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine the following powers: 
    • to issue conclusions on whether an object of cultural heritage is a symbol of the communist totalitarian regime or the Russian imperial policy 
    • to issue expert decisions on whether to remove from the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine an object, which is a symbol of the communist totalitarian, a symbol of Russian imperial policy, or contains such symbols 
    • to make decisions on granting consent for dismantling (removal) of certain parts of such objects of cultural heritage 
    • to make decisions to retain the object, which is a symbol of the communist totalitarian regime or Russian imperial policy but has exceptional artistic value, in the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine. 

What is right: the resolution launches the implementation of the policy on decolonization of Ukrainian history and culture. 

Background information: on March 21, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the law On the Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and the Decolonization of Toponymy, which established a legal framework for the process of decolonization in Ukraine. It was initiated after the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.