Lenin's statue brought down by Ukrainian nationalists in Kharkiv

London: Nationalists have brought down a statue of Vladimir Lenin in Ukraine, a move supported by officials, media reported on Monday.

People cheered and leapt for joy when the statue came crashing down which stood at the centre of Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv, BBC reported.

Pro-Russian protesters in the largely Russian-speaking city defended the statue in February, when President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted.

On Sunday night, when nationalist protesters gathered around the statue for a "Kharkiv is Ukraine" rally, governor of Kharkiv region, Ihor Baluta, signed an order to dismantle the statue.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov wrote on Facebook that he had given orders for police to ensure only the safety of people, "not the idol".

"Lenin? Let him fall...," he wrote.

"As long as people don't get hurt. As long as this bloody communist idol does not take more victims with it when it goes," Avakov added.

Kharkiv escaped the violent unrest which swept through Ukraine's other regions, Donetsk and Luhansk.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place for weeks between pro-Russian separatists in those two regions.