The official names of populated places in the country are determined through legislation passed by the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, often at the request of local authorities.
Following the months-long Euromaidan protests and beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014, hundreds of placenames dedicated to Russian communist figures and the Soviet Union were changed as major decommunization legislation was enacted in 2016.
After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, derussification gained widespread public support for the first time and became part of the Ukrainian government's announced decolonization policies.
[4] On 21 March, the Ukrainian parliament passed On the Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and the Decolonization of Toponymy (Law No.
As of 22 December 2024, ten administrative divisions and hundreds of populated places have had their names changed or modified as part of derussification.