Ukrainians topple Lenin statue

Huge crowds gathered in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv to see the toppling of the country's largest statue of Lenin.

It's the latest such statue to meet its end like this.

The statue's demise was greeted with a mood of jubilation.

(SOUNDBITE)(Russian) UNIDENTIFIED MAN SAYING:

"Because of him Ukraine was in poverty for years. A good example is the famines of the 1920s, 30s and 40s. I hope this monument won't be here any more, no memory of him at all."

Kharkiv was one of the cities in eastern Ukraine where attempts by pro-Russian activists to ignite an anti-Ukraine movement failed to take hold.

The destruction of the Lenin statue is seen as an end to another symbol of totalitarian communism and another step away from Russia and the communist past.