how tragic events changed the face of the city

The historical center of the capital was almost lost

On September 24, 1941, as part of the “scorched earth” tactic, the Soviet special services carried out a terrorist attack in Kyiv – it led to the destruction of more than 200 buildings on Khreshchatyk and left about 50,000 residents of the Ukrainian capital homeless.

About these terrible events reminded in KMDA.

In preparation for the retreat before the German troops, the communists purposefully mined key infrastructure facilities, residential buildings and historical monuments.

“They deliberately wanted large-scale destruction, and not only in Kyiv – everywhere. Centers of large cities, iconic buildings were replaced. When they retreated, they destroyed the crops in the fields.

From the very beginning, the Soviet regime had one tactic – to undermine the morale of the enemy at any cost, even if it led to the destruction of cities and human suffering. The occupation regime did not act as a government, but as a machine of destruction. They were not concerned about the fate of people or cities“, explains in a comment for “UP. Life” historian Vitaly Nahmanovych.

Then the fire destroyed about 200 buildings, among them – 5 hotels, a conservatory, theaters, cinemas, libraries, the city council and numerous residential buildings.

“The entire Khreshchatyk – on both sides from Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Street to Triochsvyatitelska Street – was destroyed. Not a single pre-war building remained on the Bessarabka side.

Not a single street escaped large-scale destruction. The entire Khreschatyk, as well as the surrounding streets, lost their historical appearance due to the destruction of buildings during the terror“, the historian said.

The historical center of the city was almost lost. In addition, the central temple of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra exploded due to explosives planted by the communists.

Sofia Kyivska managed to be saved thanks to the cunning of the director of the reserve Oleksa Povstenka, who deceived the NKVD, saying that it was impossible to place explosives in the building due to the lack of dungeons.

The terrorist attack, aimed at destroying important objects of the infrastructure of the capital, led to huge losses among the civilian population. About 50,000 Kyivans were left homeless on the eve of winter.

The Germans, who occupied Kyiv at the time, demined some buildings, including the Opera House and the Teacher’s House, which was the former building of the Central Rada.

However, the explosions on Khreshchatyk, organized by the communists, became an excuse for the Nazi regime to commit another crime – the mass shootings of Jews in Babi Yar, which began less than a week after the terrorist attack.

“The Nazis used the terrorist attack on Khreschatyk as an excuse to justify their actions, but their crimes were planned long before these events. They claimed that this was a retaliatory action, but in other cities where there were no terrorist attacks, everything happened exactly the same: people were rounded up, taken outside the city and shot.

The terrorist attack on Khreschatyk became for the Nazis a propaganda trick, a formal basis for repression. They claimed that they were punishing the killing of German officers and the destruction of the city. However, even without this terrorist attack, the Nazis would have carried out the same actions. The terrorist attack only gave them additional arguments for propaganda“, the historian notes.

Earlier, we talked about how Russia used rape culture in imperial wars for centuries and how it chose it as a tactic of warfare today.