Kyivites out to defend their city

On April 21 between one and a half and two thousand residents gathered on Mykhailivska Square to protest ruination of the historical part of Kyiv. The organizers told The Day the event was apolitical and that no political force was allowed to attend. The rally focused on the protection of Andriivsky uzviz [some refer to it as Kyiv’s Monmartre]. Among the protesters were noted musicians, historians, journalists, and Yevhen Sverstiuk of the older generation.

Public activists and residents came up with radical demands: Mayor Oleksandr Popov’s retirement and criminal prosecution against all bureaucrats involved in the unlawful sales of Andriivsky uzviz’s plots; there must be a law banning arbitrary construction projects; Kyiv public must be returned the stolen lands; further construction on historic sites must be allowed by the public and UNESCO.

Mykhailo Kalnytsky, Kyiv historian and student of local lore, happens to be in possession of two interesting documents as proof of the planned construction of a trade and office center with an underground parking lot at 9/11 Frolivska and 10B Andriivsky uzviz streets. Both documents are signed by Oleksandra Hubina, Deputy Minister of Culture of Ukraine, and Andrii Vinhranovsky, head of the Cultural Heritage and Cultural Values Department. And this considering that any construction apart from engineering repair and/or renovation is banned on the premises of the historical and cultural preserves.

Yurii Makarov was at the rally and said: “Khreshchatyk wrote a business center planned to be built on Andriivsky uzviz back in 2008. The Mistobudivna rada (City Development Council) soft-pedaled this information, saying there would be a 3-story hotel, with 5-6 stories underground, instead. So this is no news, except that Kyiv public let it pass at the time. We have lots of organizations tasked with monitoring such projects, including the Chief City Development Directorate, Chief Architect’s Office, State Committee on Architecture and Construction, State Board of Experts on Construction, let alone the City Council. This rally must be placed on a regular basis…”

The Saturday rally was marked by exemplary discipline, cultured behavior. The calls to protect the capital would have been far less convincing hadn’t the protesters left the square absolutely clean, even without cigarette butts. During the rally all garbage was collected and placed in cardboard bags supplied by Green-minded groups of concerned citizens. Activist Hanna Hopko proposed to plant grass round the monument to Princess Olha because the lawn was damaged by the protesters who stood on it.