I'm not complaining about the cold. But why? Why rare sunny hours fall on working days and why is it always gloomy with rain, wind and fog on weekends? Life is not fair.
I made a great plan - to walk along the Dnieper River, watch the birds, then walk around the high hills of the right bank, check out the "Motherland-Mother" monument and the new museum that everyone is talking about. I put it off for several weeks in a row.
Last Saturday, I decided that I don't care about the weather and I'm going to leave the house. The nature also didn't care about my plans, so the weather was typical for a weekend.
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It was wet snow all day on Friday, so on the next day, everything was covered with a thick layer of heavy snow - the ground, roads, tree branches. At first, it was like a fog.
When I dropped my car on the sideline and got out of the car, the first thing I noticed was The Flag. I was so excited about the walk. It is a beautiful spot with nice views when... you know... the air is clear and you don't have to watch your steps walking on slippery stairs or stepping over puddles.
Then started raining. I didn't grab an umbrella but when I was choosing my down jacket I was told it doesn't get wet. Besides, I was dressed warmly so I carried on protecting my camera with my jacket.
The Motherland monument was so huge and so close. And the museum is somewhere in the basement, as I understand it.
The yellow and Blue colors of the flag seemed to be the only colors on this winter background. It was installed here in August 2020 for the Independence Day of Ukraine. The largest flag of Ukraine (16×24 m) on the highest flagpole (89.2m). All this area is the "National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War. Memorial complex". Just a "Museum of War" in short.
This is an ancient area called Pechersk, or more poetically Pechersk hills. Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra is located nearby, but the rain got stronger and I realized that it was a bad idea to go so far, so I just made a few circles around.
The memorial complex is quite large actually, it occupies an area of more than 11 hectares. There is a museum with the "Motherland-Mother" monument, the main square with the Alley of Heroic Cities, a gallery of front and rear heroes, the "Flame of Glory" cup, an exhibition of military equipment and weapons, and several other exhibition spaces.
The museum was opened in 1981, on May 9, when the Soviets celebrated Victory over Nazism. Unfortunately, Nazism was not defeated then, because only Germany and the German people suffered the punishment. The other party that was responsible for starting the war, namely the Soviet Union, was not punished at all. Winners are not judged... So they start new wars. Oh, but I was saying that the first guest of the Museum was Brezhnev.🤓
In the summer of 2022, the Soviet Coat of Arms on the shield held by the statue was dismantled. In its place, the coat of arms of Ukraine was installed - a trident. This story made a lot of noise in Ukrainian society. Most people were outraged, believing that spending money on replacing the coat of arms is generally very important, but not at such a critical time for the country. In the end, it turned out that the patron will pay for all the dismantling, manufacturing and installation, so it is his right and his desire to spend the money in this way. I am personally glad that it happened.
The monument is an all-welded steel structure facing the Dnieper, i.e. toward the East. It is worth noting that Hitler's troops attacked us from the west, and Russia from the east. Yeap. So, the monument consists of three layers: the main steel frame weighing more than 280 tons, the auxiliary frame weighing 108 tons, and the stainless steel cladding itself, which weighs 90 tons.
Meanwhile, the bell tower of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra can already be seen in its entirety. The cloudy sky looks like a big spot of blurred watercolor.
The flag from the close-up. I never see it soo close. Actually, I wasn't here since it was installed.
A few more pictures of the main square and exhibition of military equipment and weapons from WWII.
The museum I was looking for is in the base but the entrance is from the back. It is a rare case when my expectations are exceeded. It worth a separate post.
If the weather had been better... My walk wasn't long, and I didn't get cold but eventually and gradually I got sick. I was struggling during 2 previous days and today I finally gave up. I took a day off and called a doctor and now I must tune in to that I will have to go outside and grab the medicine from the pharmacy. The bad news is that the range of drugs has greatly decreased during the war, and all the good and effective drugs that I remember are missing from the shelves. Better than nothing though.
