History of War in Miniature

The Museum of Ukraine’s Armed Forces has opened a nationwide exposition of military miniatures courtesy of the Ukrainian Association of Afghan War Veterans jointly with the Defense Ministry and a historical and patriotic association, the Unity of Generations. Dedicated to the Day of the Liberation of Kyiv, the exposition features over 500 models of armored vehicles, aircraft, automobiles, figures of soldiers from various historical epochs and countries, as well as miniature dioramas.

The opening ceremony the Saturday before last was attended mostly by children, who, nonetheless, listened with genuine interest to those speaking about the structure and performance characteristics of their models. Works by Major Andriy Dubovyk deserve special mention. Formerly a commando, he inherited this hobby from his father. It takes Andriy almost a month to make one figure. His diorama of Brody took him half a year to complete. Just like all the remaining authors, he can tell it all about each of his works. For even trifles matter when it comes to modeling. Each miniature has a story to tell and each sideboard number is associated with a certain period or event.

When asked why children and especially adults need this, Oleksandr Horokhovsky, a representative of the Unity of Generations Association, told The Day, “Modeling involves reading books. One should dig through archives to establish who fought and where using these armored vehicles. This way our organization aims to motivate the younger generation to study history. To tell the difference between a toy and a model one must read at least three articles, or better yet, a number of books on the subject. Recently we opened a history circle with a children’s library. Regrettably, we have given up the Soviet practice of organizing children’s circles. After all, we would rather children read books than hang out in the streets with nowhere to go.”