Nikolai Tomenko revealed a secret master plan aimed at the destruction of historic Kyiv, Ukraine.

Somewhat unnoticed and quietly, the joyful news from the powerful developers of Kyiv about transforming Kontraktova Square into the LARGEST URBAN SPACE IN THE WORLD has emerged. This will be achieved using the so-called tactical urbanism method, where public initiatives funded by the budget convert undeveloped corners of the city into public spaces.

It's interesting to ponder who among the 13 deputy mayors of Kyiv or Mayor Klitschko invited Danish urbanists, at our expense, to turn the "undeveloped Kontraktova Square" into a skateboarding and entertainment area.

However, the first step towards the urbanization of this historic site was already taken by the authorities of Kyiv themselves, without the Danish urbanists, when they brought in a Ferris wheel and allowed our friends from the East to chop wood and grill shashlik during the holidays on the territory of the State Historical and Architectural Reserve "OLD KYIV".

Let me remind you that in our Ukrainian capital, there is still NO new or updated MASTER PLAN FOR KYIV. From now on, the authorities will be developing documentation for amendments to the existing city master plan, funded by the residents of Kyiv.

For reference.

The public hearings in Kyiv on July 12, 2005, supported my initiative to halt construction in the historical part of the city, and subsequently, the Verkhovna Rada endorsed our Resolution on the Moratorium on the development of historical Kyiv. After 2006, the new city leadership under Chernovetsky, with the tacit agreement of President Yushchenko's team, abolished this moratorium.

Therefore, if we examine the period of Chernovetsky-Klitschko's rule (2006-2025), it can be characterized as a time of anarchic city development in favor of friendly business empires and a period marked by the destruction of the historical and architectural heritage of the Ukrainian capital.

COSMOPOLITAN ECLECTICISM has become the architectural strategy of the city authorities, who have failed to restore or even conserve a single historical part of Kyiv. The symbols of modern Kyiv have become the monuments to the Ukrainophobe Bulgakov (opened under Chernovetsky) and the Russian-speaking chansonnier Vertinsky (opened under Klitschko), who loved and defended Kyiv "without Ukrainian nationalists" and the city where one can relax and eat well.

Instead of honoring Ivan Mazepa, Pavlo Skoropadskyi, Symon Petliura… the city authorities have failed to do so. The Ukrainian parliament and the proclamation of the UPR back in 2017 remain forgotten by the authorities, and it has now also been shelled by the Russian horde.

Plans to update the decommunized sites in Kyiv (former monuments to Lenin, Shchors…) have simply been forgotten. At the same time, the "greatest achievement" of the authorities in popularizing Ukrainian Kyiv has been the covering of the monuments to Taras Shevchenko, Lesya Ukrainka, Mykhailo Hrushevsky, Mykola Lysenko… with bags and boards. It is symbolic that in protest, Shevchenko managed to free his head from the burlap. Would our spiritual PROPHETS really hide behind sandbags during a war?!

And a few words about Kontraktova Square.

Currently, it houses the largest number of preserved historical and architectural monuments that are part of the "Ancient Kyiv" reserve. Historians assert that in the 15th-18th centuries, Podil became the administrative center of Kyiv, where the Magistrate convened (the city received Magdeburg rights in 1497-99) and where the main market, the stone magistrate church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Bogoyavlensky Monastery with its school were located. Kontraktova Square is inextricably linked with the life and activities of Petro Sahaidachnyi, Ivan Mazepa, Hryhorii Skovoroda, Ivan Hryhorovych-Barsky… Furthermore, in the 1970s, during archaeological excavations along the metro line, 11 wooden log structures were discovered and examined. Particularly interesting are the 5 structures that were part of a single residential and economic complex from the 10th century. The sections of the city streets of ancient Kyiv found at a depth of 10-11 meters were dubbed "Kyiv Pompeii." Therefore, before the reconstruction of the Hospitable Courtyard, archaeological excavations and museification within Kontraktova Square should be conducted. This, in turn, will allow the Hospitable Courtyard, as a future museum and cultural space, to feature an underground archaeological museum of world-class significance.

Reflecting on the complex history of Kyiv and Podil, a sad comparison comes to mind. As is well known, one of the most catastrophic fires in Kyiv occurred in 1811 – the Podil fire. Looking at the plans of the current developers and urbanists, one wishes to warn them and all Kyiv residents:

another "fire" concerning the destruction of the historical and architectural heritage is something KYIV will definitely not survive.