In these tense, anxious days filled with rumors of war, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information reported that someone connected to a local oligarch was bringing legal action in an attempt to privatize part of the World War II museum complex in downtown Kyiv, which includes the Motherland monument.
When I read the news, I could hardly believe my eyes.
Monuments are important to people of my generation.
I have a friend who collects monuments to Lenin and Soviet pioneers and takes them to the museum-village – Frumushika-Nova – which he created, on the border with Moldova.
The museum village includes a park of Soviet culture, where these monuments stand close to each other in various configurations.
Perhaps because of this, they look much more humane than they did on the streets and squares of Soviet cities.
When you look at 10 Lenins standing in a row in this park, you get the feeling you’re on Easter Island.
It is a pity my friend could not add the Motherland statue to his collection. How would you move it, for a start?!
The Motherland monument is 102 meters high.
The steel structure weighs 530 tons, and all the steel was produced in Zaporizhia.
This is, indeed, the tallest monument in Europe and the most famous Soviet monument that the policy of decommunization has not yet reached.
The monument – and the entire museum complex dedicated to the victory of the USSR in World War II – was unveiled by Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev on May 9, 1981 – Soviet and Russian Victory Day.
Initially, the monument’s creators wanted to make it “gold”, but they abandoned the idea.
It was designed to withstand an earthquake that measures 9 points on the Richter scale. So, if an earthquake were to destroy the whole of Kyiv, the only thing left standing would be the monument to the Motherland!
And now, as it turns out, a company associated with local oligarch Igor Kolomoisky is trying to privatize it via the courts.
Could they be interested in 530 tons of high-quality steel?
The Motherland monument might turn out to be a good business opportunity. There are two elevators inside, which can rise to more than 92 meters, viewing platforms and many empty working spaces. The viewing sites remain closed due to the pandemic.
Let’s consider the commercial potential. Many bars and restaurants, even several hotels. There might also be space for a church and a fitness club. Perhaps this is what the company connected to Kolomoisky is interested in?
My friend Alexander Palariev, who created the museum-village and park of Soviet culture on the border with Moldova, also dreamed of erecting a monument that would get into the Guinness Book of Records.
Not just any old monument, but a monument to a shepherd.
He comes from a family of shepherds and he regards the profession to be one of the most important, the very first, and the most ancient.
Having earned money by selling gasoline, Alexander set about recreating the village of Frumushika-Nova, which was destroyed during the Soviet era to make way for a military training ground.
He planted vineyards and began to make wine. He set up a huge sheep farm, and, finally, a few years ago, Alexander erected the world’s largest monument to a Chaban (shepherd).
Although compared to the Motherland monument, its height is very modest, just 18 meters, it does weigh 1080 tons! And it is made of labradorite, the noblest type of granite.
The monument has been in the Guinness Book of Records since 2017, and it is the only Ukrainian monument in this publication.
Alexander was able to create the village and a park of Soviet culture by leasing land from the Ministry of Defense for a period of 50 years.
In several legal fights, the military has tried to tear up the lease agreement and take both the village-museum and the collection of Soviet monuments for themselves.
Fortunately, these attempts have so far failed.
Finally, I want to add that the market for second-hand monuments of Lenin is going through a serious crisis.
Many residents of towns and villages in Ukraine, who managed to sneak away monuments to the leader of the proletariat during the recent period of active decommunization, have been unable to sell them.
There’s no more demand for second-hand Lenins.
Especially today when everybody is thinking about a possible attack from the country where Lenin Streets and monuments to Lenin are still in place, and where the actual mummy of Lenin is still lying in the Mausoleum on Red Square.
By the way, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information has said that under no circumstances will it allow the privatization of the Motherland monument or any part of the complex in which it stands.
