Safeguarding the Capital's Heritage: A City Reconstructing Its Foundations Amidst the Onslaught of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her freshly fitted front door. The restoration team had given the moniker its ornate transom window the “crescent roll”, a whimsical nod to its arched shape. “I think it’s more of a peafowl,” she commented, gazing at its branch-like details. The refurbishment initiative at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who marked the occasion with a couple of neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an expression of opposition in the face of a neighboring state, she clarified: “We strive to live like ordinary people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way. We have no fear of remaining in Ukraine. The possibility to emigrate existed, relocating to a foreign land. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance represents our commitment to our homeland.”

“We strive to live like ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the most positive way.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s historic buildings could be considered paradoxical at a moment when drone attacks regularly target the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, offensive operations have been dramatically stepped up. After each strike, workers seal shattered windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Among the Conflict, a Campaign for Identity

In the midst of war, a group of activists has been striving to conserve the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the downtown Shevchenkivskyi district. It was erected in 1906 and was first the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its facade is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon today,” Danylenko noted. The building was designed by an architect of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings close by exhibit comparable art nouveau features, including asymmetry – with a medieval spire on one side and a turret on the other. One popular house in the area displays two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Dual Dangers to Heritage

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who knock down protected buildings, dishonest officials and a political leadership apathetic or resistant to the city’s vast architectural history. The bitter winter climate presents another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We lack genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s mayor was friends with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov added that the plan for the capital comes straight out of a previous decade. The mayor rejects these claims, saying they originate from political rivals.

Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once protected older properties were now serving in the military or had been lost. The protracted conflict meant that everyone was facing economic hardship, he added, including those in the legal system who mysteriously ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see degradation of our society and public institutions,” he argued.

Demolition and Neglect

One notorious demolition site is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had pledged to preserve its charming brick facade. A day after the onset of major hostilities, heavy machinery razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new commercial complex, watched by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was not much hope for the remaining turquoise-painted houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while claiming they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A former political system also caused immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its primary street after the second world war so it could facilitate official processions.

Upholding the Legacy

One of Kyiv’s most notable advocates of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was lost his life in 2022 while engaged in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were persevering in his crucial preservation work. There were initially 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s successful business magnates. Only 80 of their period doors remain, she said.

“It was not foreign rockets that destroyed them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now little will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique creeper-covered house built in 1910, which acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and period-correct railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could go on for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now nothing will be left.”

The building’s resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not appreciate the past? “Regrettably they lack education and taste. It’s all about business. We are striving as a country to move towards the west. But we are still some distance away from that standard,” he said. Previous ways of thinking persisted, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Hope in Action

Some buildings are falling apart because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons nested among its smashed windows; refuse lay under a storybook tower. “Often we don’t win,” she admitted. “Restoration is a form of healing for us. We are striving to save all this heritage and beauty.”

In the face of war and neglect, these activists continue their work, one building at a time, arguing that to preserve a city’s heart, you must first protect its history.