I might be mistaken, but wasn’t he very critical of colonialism in the Russian Empire?
There’s a Wikipedia page about it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demolition_of_monuments_to_Alexander_Pushkin_in_Ukraine
Not at all. He fully supported the colonial oppression: https://betterlivingthroughbeowulf.com/in-ukraine-a-battle-between-2-poets/
Pretty dumb imho, but hey, they can destroy /build whatever monuments they feel like in their country
These monuments are dismantled as colonial markers. Every city and town in the empire had to have monuments to Pushkin. They were erected even in some villages. Large cities had several of them. And not because there were so many Pushkin fans. It was a monumental propaganda of the cultural supremacy of Muscovy.