Throughout the past year, officials surprised Kyiv residents with their actions
Almost every month, loud scandals erupted in Kyiv related to the activities of city authorities and public enterprises.
Kashтан NEWS summarized the most notable conflicts that stirred in the capital during the 366 days of the leap year 2024.
January
The major scandal at the beginning of last winter was the ongoing search for those responsible for the flood at the "Demiivska" metro station. The situation surrounding the accident did not calm down throughout January. The Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) decided to get ahead and released preliminary results of an examination conducted by a specially created commission. According to the initial conclusions of specialists from the Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, the deformation of the tunnel between the "Demiivska" and "Lybidska" stations was allegedly caused by poor design decisions and construction work during the tunnel's construction. Meanwhile, officials from the "Kyiv Metro" were said to have carried out all necessary regulatory maintenance and operational works on the transit tunnel.
5 As time showed, the real cause was quite different...
February
This month, the Kyiv City Council made headlines again. They once again demonstrated a dismissive attitude towards old Kyiv by easily handing over a historic monument in the city center—the house of Osyp Rodin—for redevelopment.
Notably, the KMR session approved a decision to transfer a plot of land on Olesya Honchar Street, 71, along with the historic building for redevelopment. This two-story building, covering 494.1 sq m, was constructed based on the design of architect Volodymyr Nikolayev back in 1882.
6 Interestingly, the scandalous decision was not passed immediately; it took three attempts for it to gain support, receiving only 63 out of 120 votes.
Equally treacherous towards the interests of Kyiv residents was the Economic Court of the capital. Its ruling denied the General Prosecutor's Office's request to annul the transfer of a national significance archaeological monument—the Kytayiv settlement— for redevelopment. The site is an archaeological complex located in the eastern part of Holosiivskyi Forest, consisting of the remains of an ancient Rus fortress, burial mounds, caves, and settlements.
March
The next loud architectural scandal erupted in March when the foundation of the last Hetman of Ukraine, Kyrylo Rozumovskyi's palace, was accidentally uncovered in the Pechersk district of the capital. Everything would have been fine if, just a few days after the discovery, workers hadn't started pouring concrete over the historical remains. Although the police's visit halted the work, after their departure, the builders were again ordered to cover everything with concrete. The developer did not allow archaeologists, as required by current legislation in such cases, to examine the site of the find.
However, the situation escalated into a citywide scandal with the exposure of the wealth of the head of the Kyiv subway, Viktor Brahynskyi, and his family. A few days later, investigative journalists revealed new facts regarding financial maneuvers within the Kyiv Metro, mainly concerning dubious tenders for large sums.
7 The situation reached such a level of tension that Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko was forced to announce plans to suspend Brahynskyi from his position. However, he preemptively submitted his resignation and relinquished his powers as a member of the Kyiv City Council.
April
This month, the so-called Arch of Friendship of Peoples became a real stumbling block, towering over the slopes of the Dnieper in the city center. The thing is, the Kyiv authorities decided not to demolish it, despite the Ministry of Culture officially recognizing the arch as not eligible for inclusion in the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine, and thus, it could be dismantled.
8 As stated by the KCSA, the meaning of the arch has been "reinterpreted." Therefore, the area around it will receive a new concept. However, as of now, there have been no funds allocated in the city budget for the implementation of this "reinterpretation."
And how could there be a month without another scandal involving the metro? This time it concerned the "Poshtova Ploshcha" station. Activists claimed that this site was on the brink of emergency, as no proper measures were being taken to pump out underground water that had begun seeping through the structures, posing a threat of further flooding. The situation attracted the attention of Ukrainian parliament members, who formed a special commission and even visited the site.
While everyone was dealing with the subway, it became apparent that in Kyiv, during the third year of the great war, there was no unified structure responsible for informing residents about the locations of bomb shelters.
May
In the middle of the month, water in central Kyiv decided to rise from beneath the ground: a large-diameter pipe burst twice within a day near the Ocean Plaza shopping center, flooding the surrounding area. Law enforcement became interested in this "incident." As a result, they determined that employees of the "Kyivteploenergo" public enterprise had repeatedly carried out the capital replacement of the main pipeline and conducted hydraulic tests on Antonovycha Street, yet regular breaks and accidents still occurred there in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
9 Meanwhile, while addressing the pipe issue, the Kyiv District Administrative Court removed the architectural monument status from the "Shultsa Brewery" complex, built in the mid-19th century on Holosiivskyi Avenue, 8. A charitable organization, the "International Charitable Foundation for the National Welfare of Crimea," plans to build a Crimean Tatar cultural and educational center on this site, which will include a school, mosque, and a cultural-business space with a museum, conference hall, café, clubs, and shops in a national style.
Interestingly, the case brought by the developer was heard in a closed session for some reason, without the participation of other interested parties.
June
In the first month of summer, it was revealed that construction and demolition work was secretly conducted on Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street under the cover of an advertising banner. When the banner was removed, the actual condition of the Wolfson building was exposed: the facade of the building on the right side was transparent, and the roof was completely missing. Following this, Kyiv activists called on the city authorities to remove all such screens and banners from old buildings to reveal what was happening behind them.
The next scandal involved the newly opened wave bridge in Obolon, a favorite project of the mayor. Specifically, specialists from the Kyiv Ecological and Cultural Center conducted an audit and found that nearly 200 aged trees and 1000 bushes had been illegally cut down during construction on the island, which is protected and part of the regional landscape park "Dnieper Islands." In light of this, ecologists appealed to the relevant authorities.
0 However, perhaps the most publicized incident in the capital was the destruction of the sculptural composition on the Landscape Alley. According to sculptor Kostiantyn Skrytutskiy, a group of people dismantled "The Girl on Pillows" in broad daylight. The culprits are still being sought.
July
Without exaggeration, the apex of the capital's scandals in July can be considered the demolition of the Zelensky family estate. On the morning of July 19, police in Kyiv received a report that unknown individuals had used heavy construction equipment to demolish a house built in the late 19th century on Oleksandr Konyiskyi Street, 22. It turned out to be an act of self-justice. This audacity sparked outrage among Kyiv residents, and the following day, a protest was held outside the city hall at Khreshchatyk, 36. Subsequently, activists organized such events every weekend for nearly a month and a half.
1 This turn of events did not go unnoticed by the members of the Ukrainian parliament. Among other things, they advised the KCSA leadership to reconsider the appropriateness of the officials from the Department of Cultural Heritage Protection's positions. The city administration did not heed the parliament members.
Meanwhile, the capital's prosecutor's office refuted the January statements made by officials of the KCSA and "Kyiv Metro" claiming that the cause of the accident on the "Lybidska" — "Demiivska" transit was allegedly poor construction of the tunnels between the flooded stations.
Independent experts found that measures to prevent water from entering the tunnel from March 2011 to December 2023 were carried out without involving specialists who could determine the causes of the damage and provide recommendations for their elimination. The result of such prosecutor findings was the announcement of suspicion against two officials from "Kyiv Metro," whose negligence led to the flooding of the tunnel.
August
In the early days of the month, it became known that the