Shedding its Communist past, Odessa converts Lenin statue into a monument to Darth Vader

Ukraine's fascination with Darth Vader continues, as a factory in Odessa unveils the world's first Darth Vader monument. The figure is the work of local artist Alexander Milov, who's previously designed a gigantic robot statue, erected in the city of Yuzhne, outside Odessa.

Milov's statue is more than art: there's also a router built into Vader's head, delivering Wi-Fi to the area around the Sith Lord.

Milov created the Vader statue by repurposing an existing Lenin statue that previously stood at the factory. The statue was scheduled for demolition, in accordance with a new Ukrainian law on de-Communization, requiring the elimination of all landmarks and geographic names dedicated to Lenin and other Communist figures. Workers at this Odessa factory, however, requested that the statue be redesigned, rather than demolished.

“Everything flows, everything changes, old figures give way to new ones, and so the world turns,” the factory's warehouse manager said.