Danish Ukrainian community promotes Copenhagen street name changes after Ukrainian cities

The Ukrainian community in Denmark has helped honor Ukraine in the Danish capital: seven new streets in Copenhagen will be named after Ukrainian cities, according to Lesia Ignatyk-Eriksen, head of the Danish nonprofit “Hjælp Ukrainske Børn (Help Ukrainian Children)”.

The initiative to rename the streets was made by Copenhagen’s Climate, Technical, and Environmental Committee. The new names were chosen from Ukrainian port cities to naturally fit the maritime character of the area.

The planned street names are: Kyivgade (Kyiv Street), Mariupolgade (Mariupol Street), Ukrainagade (Ukraine Street), Sevastopolgade (Sevastopol Street), Khersongade (Kherson Street), Mykolajivgade (Mykolaiv Street), and Odesagade (Odesa Street).

The Danish-Ukrainian Association asked Hjælp Ukrainske Børn to suggest which Ukrainian cities were most important to include, Ihnatik-Eriksen said.

“We insisted that Mariupol be on the list. It’s the city where Ukrainian defenders held out heroically. The city that became a symbol of crimes against civilians. The city where the world saw the photo of a building with the word ‘CHILDREN’ written in large letters—yet it was still destroyed by bombs,” the organization wrote.

For the Ukrainian community, these are “not just street names,” the post says. “They are memory, truth, and the voice of Ukrainian children, which must be heard across Europe.”