Safeguarding Kyiv's Heritage: A City Rebuilding Itself Under the Threat of War.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her freshly fitted front door. The restoration team had given the moniker its graceful transom window the “crescent roll”, a playful reference to its curved shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peafowl,” she stated, gazing at its twig-detailed details. The refurbishment initiative at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with several impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of resistance towards a foreign power, she elaborated: “We strive to live like ordinary people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way. Fear does not drive us of living in our homeland. The possibility to emigrate existed, moving away to another European nation. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance shows our commitment to our homeland.”

“We are trying to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way.”

Protecting Kyiv’s historic buildings could be considered unusual at a time when drone attacks frequently hit the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, offensive operations have been notably increased. After each strike, workers seal broken windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Amid the Bombs, a Campaign for History

Amid the bombs, a collective of activists has been striving to conserve the city’s decaying mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was originally the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its exterior is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare today,” Danylenko said. The building was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity exhibit similar art nouveau elements, including an irregular shape – with a gothic tower on one side and a projection on the other. One beloved house in the area features two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Challenges to Legacy

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who demolish listed buildings, unethical officials and a political leadership unconcerned or hostile to the city’s vast architectural history. The bitter winter climate imposes another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We are missing genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s mayor was allied with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov added that the plan for the capital harks back to a bygone era. The mayor denies these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once defended older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been killed. The ongoing conflict meant that everyone was facing economic hardship, he added, including those in the legal system who curiously ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see decline of our society and state bodies,” he argued.

Demolition and Abandonment

One egregious demolition site is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had pledged to preserve its picturesque brick facade. Shortly following the 2022 invasion, excavators tore it down. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new retail and office development, observed by a surly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was not much hope for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while stating they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A previous regime also inflicted immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could allow for official processions.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most prominent champions of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was killed in 2022 while engaged in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his vital preservation work. There were originally 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s successful business magnates. Only 80 of their period doors are still in existence, she said.

“It wasn’t external attacks that got rid of them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could continue for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now nothing will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character creeper-covered house built in 1910, which acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new vermilion portal and authentic railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could continue for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now little will be left.”

The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not value the past? “Regrettably they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are attempting as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still a way off from that standard,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Resilience in Preservation

Some buildings are crumbling because of institutional abandonment. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons roosted among its broken windows; debris lay under a whimsical tower. “Often we are unsuccessful,” she admitted. “This activity is therapy for us. We are attempting to save all this history and beauty.”

In the face of destruction and neglect, these volunteers continue their work, one building at a time, arguing that to preserve a city’s soul, you must first save its stones.