This Soviet monstrosity towers over the Ukrainian World War II museum, weighing over 500 tons and standing 200ft tall (including the base structure, over 300ft). Well, I suppose we have the similarly-sized Statue of Liberty with the torch of freedom and the book of law in hand, and the Ukrainians have the Mother of the Motherland with a sword and shield to defend the country and crush its enemies… to each their own.
As you approach the museum there are the usual artillery pieces and tanks along the walkway, in fewer numbers than the other museums but better upkept.
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| A line of ZiS-3 76.2mm field guns complete with painted tires. The Soviets loved artillery… over 100,000 of these were made during World War II. By the end of the war, artillery concentrations were measured in number of guns per kilometer of front (e.g. about 650 guns/km for taking Berlin) | A T-10 heavy tank which actually did not serve in World War II. The IS-3 (Josef Stalin 3) heavy tank came into service in the closing days of World War II and is very similar to the T-10 in appearance and function. The “pike” on the front hull is a common recognition feature to both the IS-3 and T-10. |
Closer in to the main building are two modern “flower power” tanks and the more typical communist-style inspiring and heroic sculptures.
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| A T-64 and T-62 tank in a rather unusual paint scheme. I have no idea why these tanks are painted this way – maybe to deceive the protestors until its too late for them to get away? | Riflemen with artillery support prepare to cross the Dnieper River in the liberation of the Ukraine in 1943-44. The dish in the background is the “Fire of Glory” cup. |
Inside the museum, it had a different feel than the museum in Moscow. Understandably, it focuses a lot more on what happened in the Ukraine during World War II, devoting an entire gallery to the battle around Kiev in 1941 (in which 600,000 Russian soldiers were encircled and captured by the Germans – for comparison, the entire US Army today has less than 600,000 men under arms) and major operations such as Operation BAGRATION (the destruction of the German Army Group Center in 1944) is left unmentioned because it took place in modern-day Belarus.
They do take note of the Allied contribution to World War II in a single paragraph (more like two sentences):
”It is worth mentioning that Allied forces also conducted operations in Europe alongside Soviet troops. Some materials cover the opening of the second, western front on 6 June 1944, when British and American troops landed in Normandy. However, during both the final stages and over previous years the key events took place on the Eastern front. Total enemy losses were four times more than those in the Western European and Mediterranean theatres.”
Apparently, they don’t know that the Canadians had a whole beach to themselves at Normandy (Juno beach)… but I digress. Besides the Battle of Kiev (and the battle for the Dnieper and liberation of Kiev a few years later) the museum also goes into detail on the siege of Odessa (which held out much longer than expected during the initial, dark days of the fascist invasion – much like Brest fortress in the center of the front) and the siege of Sevastopol (the heavily fortified Soviet naval base in the Crimea which was ultimately taken at heavy cost to the Germans in 1942).
Overall, it’s not a bad museum to see though the quantity of artifacts is better at the Moscow museum not to mention the better overview of the entire war on the Eastern Front. There is ample English language signage available (there are laminated information sheets available in a variety of languages for each gallery).
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| Typical exhibition gallery in the museum. | Visual representation of the daily rations for a civilian in Leningrad. |
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