''The Motherland Monument'' ( uk, Батьківщина-Мати, translit=Batkivshchýna-Máty) is a monumental statue in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, the capital of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. The sculpture is a part of the

National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War The National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War ( uk, Музей історії України у Другій світовій війні) is a memorial complex commemorating the German-Soviet War located in the southern out ...

Description

The

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

statue stands tall upon the museum main building with the overall structure measuring including its base and weighing 560 tonnes. The sword in the statue's right hand is long weighing 9 tonnes, with the left hand holding up a shield emblazoned with the hammer and sickle emblem of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Initially, the statue was drawn by the sculptor

Yevgeny Vuchetich Yevgeny Viktorovich Vuchetich (–12 April 1974) (russian: Евгений Викторович Вучетич; uk, Євген Вікторович Вучетич, ''Evhen Viktorovych Vuchetych'') was a prominent Soviet sculptor and artist. He is ...

. Vuchetich based the statue on the Ukrainian painter Nina Danyleiko. When Vuchetich died in 1974, the project was continued by

Vasyl Borodai Vasyl Zakharovych Borodai ( uk , Василь Захарович Бородай; 18 August 1917–19 April 2010) was a Ukrainian sculptor, painter and parliamentary. He was known for his public monuments. Borodai was awarded the title, People's ...

, who used Ukrainian sculptor Halyna Kalchenko, a daughter of the prime minister of Ukraine

Nikifor Kalchenko Nykyfor Timofiyovych Kalchenko ( uk, Никифор Тимофійович Кальчекно; – 14 May 1989) was a Ukrainian and Soviet politician, who served as the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR (equivalent of ...

, as the model. The memorial hall of the museum displays marble plaques with carved names of more than 11,600 soldiers and over 200 workers of the home-front honored during the war with the title of the

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

and the

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

. On the hill beneath the museum, traditional flower shows are held. The sword of the statue was cut because the tip of the sword was higher than the cross of the

Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra or Kyivo-Pechers’ka Lavra ( uk, Києво-Печерська лавра, translit=Kyievo-Pecherska lavra, russian: Киево-Печерская лавра), also known as the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, is a historic Ea ...

Background

In the 1950s, a plan circulated of building on the spot of the current statue twin monuments of

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

and

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

, nearly tall each. However, this did not go ahead. Instead, according to legend, in the 1970s, a group of Communist Party officials and Soviet sculptor

looked across at the hills by the Lavra and decided the panorama needed a war memorial. Vuchetich had designed the other two most famous giant Soviet war memorials, ''

The Motherland Calls ''The Motherland Calls'' ( rus, Родина-мать зовёт!, Rodina-mat' zovyot!, t=Homeland-Mother Is Calling!) is the compositional centre of the monument-ensemble "Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad" on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, R ...

'' in Volgograd and the Soviet soldier carrying German infant constructed after the war in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

. The statue was modeled after one of his coworkers, Mila Hazinsky, however after Vuchetich died in 1974, the design of the memorial was substantially reworked and only the eyes and eyebrows remained from the original face. It was then completed under the guidance of

. Final plans for the statue were made in 1978, with construction beginning in 1979. It was controversial, with many criticising the costs involved and claimed the funds could have been better spent elsewhere. When director of construction Ivan Petrovich was asked to confirm the costs of 9 million

rubles The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...

, he responded that this was a conservative estimate. The statue was opened in 1981 in a ceremony attended by

Soviet General Secretary The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet Union, Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Gener ...

, himself a Ukrainian. In modern-day Kyiv, the statue remains controversial, with some claiming it should be pulled down and its metal used for more functional purposes. Financial shortages mean that the flame, which uses up to of gas per hour, can only burn on the biggest national holidays, and rumours persist that the statue is built on unstable foundations, something strongly denied by the Kyiv local government. In April 2015, the parliament of Ukraine outlawed Soviet and communist symbols, street names and monuments, in an attempt to decommunize Ukraine. However,

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

monuments are excluded from these laws. Director of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance

Volodymyr Viatrovych Volodymyr Mykhailovych Viatrovych ( uk, Володи́мир Михайлович В'ятро́вич; born 7 July 1977) is a Ukrainian historian, civic activist and politician. Viatrovych was the Director of the Center for Research of Liberation ...

stated in February 2018 that the Soviet hammer and sickle on the shield of the monument should be removed to comply with the country's decommunization laws and replace it with the Ukrainian trident. , despite the

derussification Derussification (or derussianization) is a process or public policy in different states of the former Russian Empire and the Soviet Union or certain parts of them, aimed at restoring national identity of indigenous peoples: their language, culture ...

and decommunization occurring in Ukraine in response to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, the monument has not been modified.

In popular culture

A scene in the 2006 novel '' World War Z'' depicts a Ukrainian tank commander and his surviving men fleeing in their vehicles from an abandoned and burning Kyiv under the watchful gaze of the monument.Brooks, Max, ''World War Z'', p.118, Duckworth Overlook, The monument was the site of a pit stop during the tenth episode of '' The Amazing Race 10''. The monument is prominently featured in the music video for the song "Get Out" by the Scottish band

Frightened Rabbit Frightened Rabbit were a Scottish indie rock band from Selkirk, formed in 2003. Initially a solo project for vocalist and guitarist Scott Hutchison, the final lineup of the band consisted of Hutchison, his brother Grant (drums), Billy Kennedy ...

Gallery

File:Національний музей історії Великої Вітчизняної війни 1941–1945 років (2).jpg, File:Motherland-mir09-gatex-1.jpg, A closer image of the statue File:Lavra Kyiv.JPG, View with

File:Motherland Monument Tank.jpg File:«Батьківщи́на-Ма́ти» 07.jpg,

References

External links