Safeguarding Kyiv's Heritage: A City Rebuilding Itself Amidst the Onslaught of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her recently completed front door. The restoration team had playfully nicknamed its elegant transom window the “croissant”, a playful reference to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peafowl,” she stated, admiring its twig-detailed details. The refurbishment initiative at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with two neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an expression of defiance in the face of a neighboring state, she clarified: “We are trying to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about shaping our life in the most positive way. Fear does not drive us of living in our country. I had the option to depart, moving away to Italy. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our allegiance to our homeland.”

“We strive to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way.”

Protecting Kyiv’s historic buildings may appear paradoxical at a time when missile strikes routinely fall the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, bombing campaigns have been notably increased. After each assault, workers seal broken windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Among the Explosions, a Fight for Identity

Despite the violence, a group of activists has been working to preserve the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a distinctive style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was first the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its exterior is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare in the present day,” Danylenko stated. The mansion was designed by a designer of Central European origin. Several other buildings nearby display analogous art nouveau features, including asymmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a projection on the other. One beloved house in the area displays two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Multiple Dangers to Heritage

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who knock down listed buildings, dishonest officials and a administrative body apathetic or resistant to the city’s vast architectural history. The bitter winter climate adds another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We lack genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s mayor was friends with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov further alleged that the vision for the capital comes straight out of a previous decade. The mayor has refuted these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once protected older properties were now engaged in combat or had been killed. The ongoing conflict meant that the entire society was facing financial problems, he added, including those in the legal system who inexplicably ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see degradation of our society and governing institutions,” he remarked.

Loss and Disregard

One glaring location of loss is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had agreed to preserve its charming brick facade. A day after the 2022 invasion, heavy machinery razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new shopping and business centre, watched by a surly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while stating they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A previous regime also caused immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could accommodate large-scale parades.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most notable champions of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was fell in 2022 while engaged in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his crucial preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s prosperous business magnates. Only 80 of their authentic doors remain, she said.

“It wasn’t foreign rockets that destroyed them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now not a thing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character creeper-covered house built in 1910, which serves as the headquarters of her cultural organization and also serves as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and authentic railings; inside is a period bathroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could continue for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing will be left.”

The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many citizens not value the past? “Sadly they are without education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to move towards the west. But we are still some distance away from that standard,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking persisted, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Hope in Preservation

Some buildings are crumbling because of official neglect. Chudna showed a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons made their home among its smashed windows; rubbish lay under a fairytale tower. “Often we lose the battle,” she acknowledged. “Preservation work is a coping mechanism for us. We are trying to save all this history and beauty.”

In the face of war and development pressures, these volunteers continue their work, one building at a time, believing that to save a city’s identity, you must first protect its walls.