Anonymous pro-Russian telegram channels write about this. The message is confirmed by the alleged decision to dismantle the monument to Catherine II. Reports claim that the decision was made on the basis of a "fictitious" vote. Like, the Office of the President gave a clear instruction to the mayor of Odesa, Trukhanov, to demolish the monument, so that the latter is allegedly doing everything possible for this.

In fact, the monument is called the monument to the "Founders of Odesa", and not Catherine herself. However, it is the figure of Catherine whose stone statue is the central figure of the monument that Russian propaganda manipulates the most. The Russian myth about Catherine II as the “founder of Odesa” is spread by Volodymyr Putin among other things.

There is no decision on dismantling yet. On the website of the President of Ukraine, several petitions have been registered regarding the future fate of this monument. Some of them got the required 25,000 votes. According to the current legislation, Volodymyr Zelenskyi submitted a petition to the Odesa City Council with a request to consider it in accordance with its competence.

According to the order of the Odesa Mayor No. 404 dated September 20, 2022, the townspeople had the opportunity to express their opinion on this issue for a month. There were seven options to choose from. About 8 thousand inhabitants of Odesa took part in the voting. About 1800 more votes were blocked, most likely due to problems with identification. The voting results were transferred to the Office for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Objects of the Odesa city council for further development and preparation of a draft decision of the city council.