Kyiv Honors Two North Caucasians who Fought Russian Imperialism by Naming a Street for Sheikh Mansur and a Square for Imam Shamil

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Dec. 17 – Kyiv has honored two North Caucasians who fought Russian imperialism in tsarist times by naming a street in the Ukrainian capital after Sheik Mansur and a square there after Imam Shamil, a move that also honors two North Caucasian units now fighting for Ukraine and highlights Ukraine’s support for the non-Russians in Putin’s empire.

            Sheikh Mansur, it will be recalled, was the leader of the Caucasian mountaineers at the end of the 18^th century, and Imam Shamil was the leader of the movement of Dagestani and other peoples of the region to block Russian imperial expansion (kavkazr.com/a/vozvraschenie-smyslov-sheyh-mansur-i-imam-shamilj-na-ulitsah-kieva/33619321.html).

            In part, what Kyiv has done is part of its general de-Russification program; but there are two other reasons for calling attention to this development: On the one hand, it highlights the importance and activism of North Caucasians who have come to Ukraine to resist Putin’s expanded invasion of that country since 2022.

            And on the other – and this is by far the more important – it underscores Kyiv’s commitment to help those nations suffering under Russian imperialism to protect their national identities and seek independence (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2025/10/ukraine-wants-to-support-non-russian.html).