Ukraine has many war monuments: Tanks, statues of the Motherland, busts of unknown and missing soldiers. Most war relics are gloomy reminders of bloodshed and sacrifice.
But there are some exceptions.
Actor Leonid Bykov (1928-1979), even cast in stone, warms you up immediately with his familiar half-smile. Sitting on top of the Pechersk hills overlooking city rooftops, he’s squeezing a pilot’s helmet in his hands in honor of World War II military pilots.
People born in the Soviet Union would immediately recognize the character of aviator Tytarenko in this monument, from the epic film “Only the seasoned join the fight.” (V boi idut odni stariki).
The Ukrainian-born Bykov played in dozens of Soviet movies, but the pilot’s role is arguably his greatest. The plot tells the story of soldiers’ daily lives in the air and on the ground, catching them between battles. Both the film’s director and lead actor, Bykov created a feel-good movie about camaraderie, humor, heroism and love at the backdrop of Ukraine’s liberation in 1942 by Soviet troops. The film was shot at Dovzhenko Studio in Kyiv in 1973.
Bykov himself always wanted to fly. Trying to enter the pilots’ school twice, he failed the first time because he was too young and too short. During the second attempt, authorities decided to shut down his school because the war ended. And so the actor never got to fly professionally, but at least he experienced it in the movie.
“At first I wanted to depict Bykov standing up confidently, directing the air squadron,” said sculptor Volodymyr Shchur. “But then somebody showed me a photograph, where he is leaning against the plane’s cabin, and I felt that it was the only right way.”
And so the pilot was cast resting after the flight with a grasshopper next to him. The little insect on a maple leaf epitomizes actor Serhiy Ivanov, who played a novice soldier in the film and went by the nickname of Grasshopper. Every time the battle unfolds, Ivanov would strangely disappear and then return with a good excuse when all the dust settles down. He overcomes fear only after shooting down his first Nazi plane.
Perhaps every Soviet-born citizen has seen this movie at least once. Veterans, however, watch it a thousand times over and often come to this monument to lay flowers and meet friends.
Bykov sits on an airplane wing right next to the park of Eternal Glory. Sculptor Shchur said they chose this specific location because the field behind the monument is reminiscent of an airfield.
Kyiv Post staff writer Elena Zagrebina can be reached at [email protected]
