The first monument to the Kobzar was erected in Shevchenko Square in 1926. The monument by Ivan Kavaleridze was made in the style of constructivism. But soon the artist fell out of favor, first with Stalin, then with Khrushchev, and his work was declared "harmful. " The local leadership, following the general line of the party, quickly demolished the disgraced monument. Instead, a sculpture of Shevchenko by Yakov Krasnozhon was installed. It is this monument that stands in the square to this day.→