Architectural monuments of Ukraine destroyed by the Russian Aggressors. The expert explained how they will be restored

Hundreds of ancient buildings were damaged or destroyed due to the large-scale Russian aggression in Ukraine. Our country has a successful experience in the restoration of historic buildings, in particular, the revitalization of the Novikov house in the Podil District of Kyiv.

The day before, on October 26, during the Kyiv International Scientific and Practical Conference Cultural Heritage in Conditions of War: Protection, Preservation and Restoration the honored architect of Ukraine Hanna Bondar talked about the scale of the brutal destruction carried out by the occupiers.

Thus, under the data of the Ministry of Culture, 171 memorials, 146 ancient buildings, 58 monuments and works of art, and 44 museums were damaged in Ukraine as of the end of October 2022 without taking into account libraries, theaters, and residential buildings that did not have the architectural monuments status, but are historical buildings.

— What will prevent us from restoring cities after the war? Everyone will claim that a lack of money. And it seems to me there will be no funds shortage, given the experience of the countries that survived the war. They all had a lot of international support, so I am sure Ukraine will not be an exception, – said Mrs. Bondar.

According to Hanna Bondar, the problem of adapting ancient buildings to the needs of the modern city and the lack of professional restorers due to ill-considered state policies in the past years is one of the main challenges of restoring the architectural treasures of Ukraine.

— It is difficult to find the optimal solution. It is known that an architectural monument exists as long as it operates. But did it not damage the building? It is obvious that the scientific and methodological council under the Ministry of Culture and advisory councils should be involved in solving such issues and work more actively on the development of the ideology of
adaptation, – said the honored architect.

Mrs. Bondar recalled there is still no separate specialty of an architect-restorer and no separate certificate for representatives of this profession in Ukraine.

— Currently, an architect who received the appropriate education, but had no experience working with architectural monuments, has the formal right to work with them. And this is a huge issue. Specialists who worked in the 1990s are no longer here. It is necessary to return the specialized profession to technical schools, construction colleges and higher education institutions, – Mrs. Bondar emphasized.

Previously, the entire set of similar problems was successfully solved by investors in the restoration of the Novikov's house in the Podil District of Kyiv. Until 2017, the house, built in 1893 to order a wealthy merchant Yan Novikov, was in a state of disrepair.

Oksana Guliaieva, a representative of the current building owners and CEO of the investment company Dovgiy Family Office, said:

— For more than a decade, the building remained without proper conservation, freezing and getting wet under rain and snow. The walls were thoroughly wet and had to be dried. Unfortunately, due to such exploitation, many beautiful architectural elements were destroyed. However, our team set an ambitious goal to preserve and restore as much as possible.

The works were carried out by Mykola Viharev’s architectural office VIHAREV which used archival data and old photos of the building. As a result, it was possible to restore the original elements of the facade and interior decoration. And in 2018 (after a year!) the building was commissioned. The new owners have also carefully considered the issue of adapting the building. There are an office center and a restaurant now.

Let us recall that the Cultural Heritage in Conditions of War: Protection, Preservation and Restoration conference was organized by the Kyiv Department of Cultural Heritage Protection. The primary partner of the event was the Dovgiy family investment company Dovgiy Family Office, which permanently participates in the protection and restoration of historical and cultural objects of Kyiv.