The street and square in Kyiv to be renamed in honor of Caucasian imams

Illustration on the topic of renaming a street and square in honor of the Sheikh Mansur Battalion and Imam Shamil. Photo: shutterstock

In early December 2025, the Kyiv City Council decided to rename a street and a square in the capital in honor of Muslim imams Sheikh Mansur and Imam Shamil.

In the Dnipro district of Kyiv, the street of the legendary educator Anton Makarenko was renamed to Sheikh Mansur Battalion Street. 

Sheikh Mansur was a religious leader of the late 18th century who preached Sharia laws to the Chechens. A Ukrainian battalion, formed from Chechen emigrants, which has been participating in combat on the side of Ukraine since 2014, is named after him.

Also in Kyiv, a previously unnamed square in the Shevchenkivskyi district was renamed to Imam Shamil Square. In 1834, he was recognized as the imam of the North Caucasian Imamate, a theocratic state in which he united the highlanders of the North Caucasus. The initiative was put forward by the "All-Ukrainian Congress of the Peoples of Dagestan" led by Akhmad Akhmedov, who fights as part of the Imam Shamil Battalion on the side of Ukraine.

The decision to rename was part of a broader policy of "derussification." Earlier, on December 4, 2025, Lavrska Street in Kyiv, where the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra is located, was renamed. It was included in Ivan Mazepa Street, stating that the previous name was considered associated with the aggressor country.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the largest menorah in Europe was lit on Maidan.

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