A restored statue of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin was unveiled in Kiev on Friday.

The monument was vandalized on June 30 by a group of nationalists, who damaged the face and an arm with hammers.

Members of the Ukrainian Communists Party, including its leader Petro Symonenko, attended the ceremony.

"Lenin is our future," Symonenko said.

Two nationalists daubed the restored monument with red paint during the ceremony. They were detained by police.

Numerous Lenin statues were torn down in Russia and former Soviet republics following the collapse of the U.S.S.R., but many remain, with each large town or city usually boasting at least one.

KIEV, November 27 (RIA Novosti)