MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE: Kyrgyzstan Dismantles Central Asia’s Tallest Lenin Statue.

Ex-Soviet states across the region are seeking to strengthen their national identities, renaming cities that have Russian-sounding names and replacing statues of Soviet figures with local and national heroes.

Russia, which has military bases in Kyrgyzstan, is striving to maintain its influence there in the face of competition from China and the West and amid its invasion of Ukraine.

Officials in the city of Osh — where the 23-meter (75-foot) high monument stood on the central square — warned against “politicizing” the decision to “relocate” it.

Osh is the second-largest city in the landlocked, mountainous country.

The figure was quietly taken down overnight and is set to be “relocated,” Osh officials said.

The decision “should not be politicized,” city hall said, pointing to several other instances in Russia “where Lenin monuments have also been dismantled or relocated.”

Relocate it to the ash heap of history.