Darth Lenin comes to Odessa.

• Author: Walker, Jesse
• Position: Artifact - Vladimir Lenin's statue - Brief article

FOR DECADES, a statue of Vladimir Lenin had stood in a square adjacent to a factory in Odessa. The sculpture's days were numbered: In April 2015, Ukraine's parliament passed a law banning the former Soviet republic's remaining Communist monuments. But instead of dismantling the figure, the factory allowed artist Alexander MILOV to transform it. Lenin is now Darth Vader.

The October unveiling ceremony brought out Ukrainians dressed as Chewbacca, as imperial Stormtroopers, and as Lord Vader himself. (The latter delivered a speech.) The revamped statue's head contains a Wi-Fi router, allowing people in the area to enjoy access to the Internet.

Milov, a proponent of the heritage-not-hate school of art appreciation, says that if it were up to him, the old Communist monuments wouldn't be demolished. Instead, "I want to take...