In Boryslav, there are plans to rename streets to neutral names in honor of Ukrainian figures.

The Borislav City Council has decided to rename streets named after Ukrainian historical figures to more neutral names once again. This includes the street named after Petro Franko, which is set to be renamed to Buzkova, and the street named after Lev Rebet, which will become Narodny Lane. The Lviv Regional Military Administration condemned these actions by the Borislav city authorities, referring to them as a "rollback of decommunization."

On Saturday, February 22, Andriy Hodyk, Deputy Head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, announced that the local commission for street renaming in Borislav has decided to rename the streets in the city once again. This pertains to those streets that were renamed by the head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, Maksym Kozytskyi, in July 2024 as part of decolonization.

At that time, May Street was renamed to Petro Franko Street, People's Guard Street was renamed to Lev Rebet Street, and in the village of Yasenytsia-Silna, Peace Street was renamed in honor of Stepan Lenkovskyi. However, on February 13, the city commission on street renaming in Borislav decided to rename them again:

• Petro Franko Street – to Buzkova Street;
• Lev Rebet Street – to Narodny Lane;
• Stepan Lenkovskyi Street – to Mariya Kulchytska Street;
• part of Bohomoltsia Street – to Volunteer Street.

Additionally, the commission decided to name unnamed streets in new residential areas as Unity Street and Defenders of Ukraine Street. The commission also initiated public discussions regarding the naming of streets in new districts near the Mraznytske Lake – Mariya Street and Kharkiv Lane. These proposals now require approval from the executive committee of the city council.

The renaming of already renamed streets to more neutral names, such as Buzkova Street or Narodny Lane, was compared by Andriy Hodyk to the naming of streets in the best traditions of the Soviet Union.

“This and other ‘brilliant’ proposals still need to be approved by the executive committee of the city council. However, I personally, along with our entire working group on decommunization at the Lviv Regional Military Administration, urge against this. A rollback of decommunization is a dangerous precedent for the whole of Ukraine. Such initiatives aimed at replacing the names of great Ukrainians with ‘buzkys’ seem not just eccentric but a conscious anti-state step,” noted Andriy Hodyk.

As early as October 2024, the Borislav City Council reported that the Lviv Regional Military Administration had renamed three streets and one lane in Borislav and one street in the village of Yasenytsia-Silna without considering the community's opinion. Therefore, the city council initiated public hearings to rename them again. It is noteworthy that the law on decommunization does not foresee such a procedure anymore, as communities in Lviv region had several years to voluntarily rename streets named after imperial, Soviet, and Russian figures.

On December 30, the city council informed that public hearings were held, and based on their results, the already renamed streets were decided to be renamed a second time.

ZAXID.NET reached out for a comment from the head of the renaming commission and the secretary of the Borislav city council, Yuriy Khymyn, but as of the time of publication, no response was received. The mayor of Borislav, Ihor Yavorskyi, also did not respond to a call from a ZAXID.NET journalist.

In honor of whom the streets were renamed

• Petro Franko – son of Ivan Franko, colonel, military pilot of the UGA, scholar, co-founder of "Plast";
• Lev Rebet – one of the regional leaders of the OUN, scout, scholar, lawyer, member of the government of Yaroslav Stetsko in Lviv in 1941;
• Stepan Lenkovskyi – one of the ideologists of the OUN and the subsequent leader of its revolutionary wing after Stepan Bandera. Politician, publicist, author of the Decalogue of the Ukrainian Nationalist.

“As for Mariya Kulchytska, the mother of Ivan Franko, who was born in Yasenytsia-Silna and died when he was 15 years old. If the village has been without a street named after Franko's mother for so long, it is indeed strange. However, with all due respect, renaming a street named after such a significant figure in the history of Ukraine, like Stepan Lenkovskyi, for this reason is absolutely wrong. Moreover, there are streets in this village with neutral names – Zarichna and Tycha, which can easily be renamed in honor of Franko's mother,” commented Andriy Hodyk.

Additionally, in compliance with the Law of Ukraine "On Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and Decolonization of Toponymy," in July 2024, Maksym Kozytskyi renamed 134 toponyms in 33 communities of the region.