The Soviet approach to toponymy was dramatically altered by the Nazi invasion. For example, in 1944 the leadership of Leningrad, facing a loss of faith in the socialist future, renamed major streets as they had been before the revolution.

Today, Russia is again trying to draw attention to its pre-revolutionary past, naming streets in occupied Ukrainian cities in honor of the USSR. An interesting example is Melitopol. After the start of the Donbas conflict, the Ukrainian authorities – as part of the policy of Ukrainization – renamed Profintern Street after Dmytro Dontsov, one of the ideologists of Ukrainian nationalism; the occupation authorities, however, didn't return the Soviet-era name of Profsoyuz Street, renaming the street in honor of Pavel Sudoplatov, the NKVD general who assassinated Yevhen Konovalets, one of the leaders of the military wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists.

Though Ukraine relied heavily on the past after 2014 – as Russia does today – the nation is currently united and doesn't require material historical legitimation. Streets are being renamed in honor of today's heroes. As a member of the Kyiv renaming commission notes, the hasty and radical struggle against the "Russian world" is already leading to miscalculation: the government recommended that the commission consider a long list of objects to be renamed and proposals of both Ukrainian and foreign educators, artists, scientists and other eminent persons. The renaming commission released the final results of the voting – in one instance Yuri Gagarin Prospect was proposed to be renamed Neil Armstrong Prospect, though in the end the option with Leonid Kadenyuk, first astronaut from independent Ukraine, won out.

Since the beginning of the year, the toponymy has been changing not just in Ukraine. Antonijas Street in Riga and Latviu Street in Vilnius, where the Russian embassies are located, were proposed to be renamed Ukrainian Independence Street and Heroes of Ukraine Street, respectively. In addition, in Ottawa the street with the Russian mission will now be called Zelensky Boulevard, while in Tirana the Russian embassy now finds itself on Ukrainian Freedom Street.