Editorial A Wounded City What was the first day of the war like in Kharkiv? How has the city changed as a result of the devastating attack on Ukraine? How do people experience the war? Kharkiv residents were asked about this in the first months after February 24, 2022.
Location Portrait Barabashovo Market The Barabashovo Market is located in the Saltivka district, the part of the city that has been most devastated by the war. This vast retail complex is considered the largest industrial and household goods market in Ukraine and, with an area of over 75 hectares, is the largest in Eastern Europe and one of the largest markets in the world. On March 17, 2022, during the fighting for Kharkiv, Russian troops shelled Barabashovo with Grad multiple rocket launchers, which sparked numerous fires throughout the market. Within a very short time, an inferno had engulfed almost the entire retail area and spread to nearby private residences. The burning market was shelled a second time, killing one firefighter, and on March 25, it was shelled again. The numerous attacks destroyed a large part of the market, while the fumes produced by burning materials, especially plastic, caused massive environmental damage, estimated by the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine at a cost of almost 2 billion UAH.
Location Portrait Burevisnyk Sports Complex (NSK Karazinskyi) Construction of the Burevisnyk Sports Complex began in 1959. The facility comprised a games hall, a sports hall, and a rowing pool, as well as three volleyball courts, two basketball courts, and a soccer pitch. After Ukraine gained independence, the site was renamed. A range of sports can be played and practiced here. The complex was badly damaged during the major offensive by Russian troops. A heavy air raid on March 5, 2022 caused the roof to collapse. Windows and halls were also destroyed, and the entire communications system was damaged.
Location Portrait Derzhprom Derzhprom, the House of State Industry, is the first Soviet skyscraper. Built in the constructivist style between 1925 and 1928, it stands 13 storeys high as an enduring architectural monument on Maidan Svobody (Freedom Square) in central Kharkiv. The Derzhprom itself is 63 meters high, and together with the television tower, built in 1954, it reaches 108 meters. The usable area of the building is 60,000 m², and the entire plot covers 10,760 m². Derzhprom was the first building in the world to be built from monolithic reinforced concrete, using 1,315 wagonloads of cement, 9,000 tons of metal, 3,700 wagonloads of granite and 40,000 m² of glass. The building has 4,500 window openings and 17 hectares of exterior glazing. The skyscraper features 12 elevators, 7 of which have been in operation without replacement since it was opened in 1928. The building was damaged during the Second World War. Before the German troops withdrew in August 1943, a series of bombing raids and arson attacks damaged the parquet floors and window frames and resulted in the doors being burnt down. The restoration of the tower block took until 1947 to complete. The Derzhprom is a candidate for the provisional list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Location Portrait Feldman EcoPark The Feldman EcoPark is a 140.5-hectare park landscape in the Derhachi district of the Kharkiv region.The park is named after Oleksandr Feldman, a Kharkiv multimillionaire and patron of the arts. The park is established by his foundation. The main component of the eco-park is a zoo housing around 2,000 animals. The park features a petting zoo, a club for young naturalists, a bat rehabilitation center, a catering area, a playground, and a riding arena. On February 24, 2022, the eco-park came under fire from Russian artillery. In the days and weeks that followed, there were further attacks, which led to the death of many animals and six employees and volunteers who were trying to feed the animals. In early April 2022, thanks to the help of volunteers, most of the animals were successfully evacuated and temporarily housed in other zoos in Ukraine. More than 300 animals died in the attacks, including orangutans, chimpanzees, deer, a large tortoise, almost all of the pelicans, and a number of other animals.
show video You have not yet given permission to place the required cookies. Accept the required cookies to view this content.Inhalt anzeigen Interview (video) Interview with Andrij K. "I know that I won't be able to go to my favorite places for the next few years. That hurts and makes me very sad."
show video You have not yet given permission to place the required cookies. Accept the required cookies to view this content.Inhalt anzeigen Interview (video) Interview with Anton D. "At the moment, I'm dreaming of doing the things we haven’t been able to do because of the war."
show video You have not yet given permission to place the required cookies. Accept the required cookies to view this content.Inhalt anzeigen Interview (video) Interview with Anton S. "When I started volunteering, that’s when I got my daily routine under control."
show video You have not yet given permission to place the required cookies. Accept the required cookies to view this content.Inhalt anzeigen Interview (video) Interview with Kateryna I. “We can buy everything, but not life”
show video You have not yet given permission to place the required cookies. Accept the required cookies to view this content.Inhalt anzeigen Interview (video) Interview with Liudmyla K. "We have put our heart and soul into it for 30 years. We planted berries and fruit there. And now it's all gone."
show video You have not yet given permission to place the required cookies. Accept the required cookies to view this content.Inhalt anzeigen Interview (video) Interview with Mykola S. "And we tried not to forget that we have to eat and drink and go shopping sometimes.”
show video You have not yet given permission to place the required cookies. Accept the required cookies to view this content.Inhalt anzeigen Interview (video) Interview with Oleksandr K. "We talked about how it might be the last time we would see our neighborhood intact before it would be destroyed by war."
show video You have not yet given permission to place the required cookies. Accept the required cookies to view this content.Inhalt anzeigen Interview (video) Interview with Oleksandra I. "When an airplane flew past the windows and everything was burning and roaring, then you knew it was time to run."
show video You have not yet given permission to place the required cookies. Accept the required cookies to view this content.Inhalt anzeigen Interview (video) Interview with Valerij S. "The positive moments are when there’s news associated with the gradual liberation of areas of Ukraine."
show video You have not yet given permission to place the required cookies. Accept the required cookies to view this content.Inhalt anzeigen Interview (video) Interview with Vladyslav S. "Everything in Kharkiv is great, no matter what it is."
show video You have not yet given permission to place the required cookies. Accept the required cookies to view this content.Inhalt anzeigen Interview (video) Interview with Yevhenii T. "At night, the sky is almost always glowing red. In Leningrad they have white nights, we have red nights in Kharkiv."
Location Portrait Karazin University’s Dormitory No. 9 The campus of the V. N. Karazin National University in Kharkiv consists of eight dormitories housing more than 5,000 students and postgraduates. Dormitory No. 9 is a 9-storey building. It features laundry facilities and a fitness room, and there is WIFI in every room. The dormitory, at 51 Ludvík Svoboda Avenue, mainly houses students of the Faculty of Mathe-matics and Informatics, the Faculty of History, and the Faculty of Philology.
Location Portrait Kharkiv Forest Park (Lisopark) Kharkiv Forest Park is considered the largest of its kind in Ukraine and one of the country’s crown-ing jewels in terms of natural beauty. Old oaks, lindens, maples, spruces, and pines grow here. In addition to the rich flora and fauna, the park offers numerous recreational facilities and a chil-dren's railroad, the Little Southern Railway, which was inaugurated in 1940. There are also a number of monuments in the park. In 2000, a Ukrainian-Polish memorial was erected here to commemorate the victims of totalitarianism. The monument features columns with the names of Soviet citizens and Polish soldiers who were shot by the NKVD in the years 1938-1940 and interred in mass graves in the forest park. According to various sources, more than 10000 victims lie buried here. The memorial site Memorial'nyj kompleks Slavy (Memorial Complex of Glory) from 1977 is one of the key sites of remembrance of the Second World War in Kharkiv. This place is dedicated to the Soviet soldiers and civil-ians who died during the Second World War.
Location Portrait Kharkiv Tractor Plant The "Kharkiv Tractor Plant" (ChTS) is the largest tractor manufacturer in Ukraine. The first tractor rolled off the production line on October 1, 1931, which is why this day is considered the plant's birthday. As more and more specialists in various fields were needed to work in the huge and rapidly growing company, a new residential area was established in Kharkiv to house them. It was given the name ChTS after the plant. Over the years, the plant has produced more than 3 million tractors and other specialized heavy machines. For decades, the products manufactured by ChTS were sold on a large scale in the Soviet Union and in many countries in Europe, Asia and even Africa. Built in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the district of Novy Kharkiv, designed as a so-called Sozgorod, is situated around the Kharkiv tractor factory.
Background Article Kharkiv–The Capital of Ukrainian Modernity Kharkiv was the capital of Soviet Ukraine from 1919 to 1934 - a place of bold architectural experiments and the center of Ukraine's cultural avant-garde. The expert on urban history Mikhail Ilchenko provides an insight into this period.
