Petition started to replace Pushkin streets with Stephen King streets

An online petition has appeared on the website of the President of Ukraine calling for streets named after Alexander Pushkin to be renamed in honor of American writer Stephen King.

«I propose renaming Pushkin streets in Ukrainian cities to Stephen King streets, after the contemporary world writer who has supported Ukraine in its fight against the invader’s attacks», – says Olena Pavlova, the author of the petition.   

She says the streets should be renamed due to the russian federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

After russia’s invasion, Stephen King said that he was not renewing his russian book contracts.

On the first day of russia’s invasion, the writer called for support of Ukraine, despite possible negative consequences, because «that’s the right thing to do». Later he posted a picture of himself wearing an «I stand with Ukraine» t-shirt, and recommended Ukrainian singer Lama’s song  «I’m Not Saying Goodbye» about Ukraine defenders. He compared russian TV with the system for informing the public in George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 and tweeted that «Putin needs to be gone before he kills us all. One way or the other».

The e-petition currently has 1,700 of the necessary 25,000 signatures.  You can add your vote by registering on the website. 

In 2018, Stephen King called for the release of Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov, who had been unlawfully imprisoned in Russia. Other writers who have expressed support for Ukraine: Margaret Atwood, Olga Tokarczuk, Frédéric Beigbeder, J. K. Rowling, Yuval Noah Harari, 

Bernardine Evaristo, Alison Killing, Neil Gaiman, Witold Szabłowski, Elif Shafak, Rupi Kaur among others.

Photo: @Nympha_Blin