We are all witnessing a tragic story unfolding before our eyes. We are paying a high price for the right to be free and independent. And our common task is to preserve the historical truth, to pass on to future generations documented evidence of both the horrors of war and, at the same time, the lessons of courage and unity, cohesion and initiative that the people of Kyiv region demonstrated to prevent the enemy from entering the capital.
The large-scale social project ‘Don't take your eyes off. Watch. Remember. Tell’ was created at the initiative of KODA. It covers the key places of the capital's defence against Russian invaders: Gostomel, Moshchun, Irpin, Bucha. Each of the locations has information steles, touchscreen information terminals, and signs with QR codes that direct you to the augmented reality website of the Places of Memory project, where you can virtually ‘relive’ those events.
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So let's go back to February and March 2022. During the Nazi offensive in the Kyiv region, Hostomel became one of the first targets of the occupiers. Having taken control of the airport, they sought to surround the capital from the west. The village of Moshchun, which is close to Gostomel, stood in their way. The defence line stretched for 15 km, up to Huta Mezhyhirska. The enemy threw all their weapons at the defenders. The positions changed hands several times. In the confrontation, there were 12 Russian special forces for every one of our soldiers. Ukraine was losing its best sons and daughters. A memorial to the Angels of Victory was created among the shot pine trees, silent witnesses to the terrorists' atrocities. The portraits of the 98 victims are equipped with QR codes that lead to bilingual audio files with information about each soldier. Young, old and very young - they held back and sent the elite units of the Russian Federation's airborne troops to the other side. The Battle of Moshchun is one of the turning points in the history of modern Ukraine. The cultural heritage site ‘Battlefield: The Battle of Moshchun’ is included in the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine in the category “Monuments of National Importance”.
The battle for Irpin lasted for twenty-three days. 70% of the city's buildings were destroyed, about 300 civilians were killed, and the enemy occupied a fifth of the city. The terrorist defence, made up of ATO veterans, was strong here. One of the defenders' checkpoints was located near the Zhiraf shopping centre. The building was completely destroyed: only metal structures, fragments of broken concrete and fragments of destroyed Russian military equipment. It is currently being rebuilt.
Irpin Lypky is an elite neighbourhood in a pine forest, built in 2018, with a developed infrastructure, where 200 families lived. The bombings on 5 and 9 March and a large-scale fire on 16 March turned this place into a horror film set. After the de-occupation, the area was visited by numerous foreign delegations, and what they saw influenced the actions of Western partners in terms of military assistance to Ukraine. The desecrated neighbourhood has become a symbol of the destruction of peaceful life of Ukrainians by the Russian invaders. It is currently undergoing active reconstruction.
Another place of remembrance is the cemetery of shot cars that were left near the Romanivskyi Bridge and on the way to it during evacuation attempts. The shell-mutilated cars are a chilling reminder of the horrors in Irpin's history and the price the city paid to fight for freedom from the Russian invasion.
The road under the destroyed Romanivskyi Bridge became the lifeline for 40,000 local residents, the only way to leave the war zone. Weapons and ammunition for the terrorist defence of Irpin were also transferred through this artery. Today, a new modern bridge has been built, and red ribbons have been stretched over the destroyed one, symbolising unity, restoration and faith in victory.
About 1,400 civilians died during the occupation of the Kyiv region, and one in three of them were from Bucha. The fighting for Bucha began on 25 February, and it was liberated on 31 March. On the territory of the Church of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, the bodies of 117 residents were found in a mass grave - killed or tortured. Steles with their names are now installed there. In total, the occupiers killed more than 1,100 people in the area of Bucha and its environs. Everyone knows the footage of the newsreel when, on 27 March, a column of enemy vehicles heading towards Kyiv along Vokzalna Street was destroyed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. There was not a single building left standing then, and now the street has been completely rebuilt, with only new fences that are the same for all households reminding us of the war.
By the way. While preparing this article, a KP correspondent took part in a promotional tour of the places of memory, visited the locations of heroic resistance and got acquainted with the tragic consequences of the occupation. Among others, teachers and students of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and Vadym Hetman Kyiv National Economic University joined the trip. They carefully studied the information and shared their impressions: ‘Travelling to such places does not leave you indifferent - it makes you think about the fragility of life and the importance of peace.’ “This project is extremely important for understanding the events we have experienced and are experiencing today.” ’It was a very emotionally charged trip. It was interesting to see the trenches live, because my father is a military man and spent a lot of time in the trenches in 2015, and recently, in winter, they were near Kharkiv and were in the same conditions... I want everyone who comes to Ukraine to know what happened here.’, ’Visiting the places of memory will deepen the awareness of the cost and incredible efforts of defending the capital in the first months of the great war. It is our sacred duty to honour the memory of all military and civilians who gave their lives in the fight against the enemy.’
I hope that polytechnics will also find an opportunity to join the routes of remembrance and show their gratitude and respect to those who made it possible for us to study, work and believe in victory.