Kruty Heroes Memorial
Encyclopedia
Kruty Heroes Memorial is a monument honoring 500 cadets who died defending Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

 at the Battle of Kruty
Battle of Kruty
The Battle of Kruty was a battle which took place on January 29, 1918, near railway station "Kruty" about northeast of Kiev, Ukraine, which was at the time part of the Nizhyn Uyezd, Chernigov Governorate.-Order of battle:Ukrainian forces* Sich Riflemen auxiliary student battalion - Vasyl...

 delaying the advancement of Bolshevik Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 on January 29, 1918. The memorial is a 10 metre red column situated on a hill, and includes a chapel and a cross-shaped lake. It was dedicated by President of Ukraine
President of Ukraine
Prior to the formation of the modern Ukrainian presidency, the previous Ukrainian head of state office was officially established in exile by Andriy Livytskyi. At first the de facto leader of nation was the president of the Central Rada at early years of the Ukrainian People's Republic, while the...

 Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko is a former President of Ukraine. He took office on January 23, 2005, following a period of popular unrest known as the Orange Revolution...

 in the village of Kruty, Chernihiv Oblast
Chernihiv Oblast
Chernihiv Oblast is an oblast of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Chernihiv.-Geography:The total area of the province is around 31,900 km²....

 on August 25, 2006.

Remembering the Kruty Heroes

For a long time, the events at Kruty rail station remained outside the official attention of USSR historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...

, providing fertile ground for myths and inventions on both sides. For example, commanding Red Army officer Muraviev claimed to have bravely fought for two days against the Ukrainian National Republic forces allegedly led by Petlura; other claims dealt with the number of casualties, between 500 and reaching into thousands. In actuality, Muraviev required two days to fix the rail station and reorganize. As for the number of dead, the official estimate is still unavailable. According to the participants of the battle, around 250-300 Ukrainian defenders died at Kruty. Only the names of those captured are available. They were later buried at Askold's Grave
Askold's Grave
Askold’s Grave is an opera in 4 acts by Alexey Verstovsky to a libretto by Mikhail Zagoskin ....

 in Kiev.

In Soviet times, the dead soldiers of Kruty were considered traitors or simply ignored. The student mounds at Askold's grave were flattened and at first a city park planted. Later, after the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the area of the monument was used for burial of Soviet soldiers who died in battles for the Ukrainian capital. Since the initial event at Kruty in 1918, the first memorial action was undertaken in the 1990s by the People's Movement of Ukraine
People's Movement of Ukraine
The People's Movement of Ukraine is a Ukrainian center-right political party...

 or Rukh which erected a wooden cross. This initiated plans for a more permanent monument. In 2000, architect Volodymyr Pavlenko seriously commenced efforts at memorial design. On August 25, 2006, the Kruty Heroes Monument was dedicated.

Dedication of the memorial

The ceremony began with a liturgy by the Patriarch Filaret
Patriarch Filaret (Mykhailo Denysenko)
Patriarch Filaret is the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate , former Metropolitan bishop of Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Filaret (secular name in Ukrainian Mykhailo Antonovych Denysenko, in Russian Mikhail Antonovich Denisenko, officially His Holiness, the Patriarch of...

 of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate
Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate
Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate is one of the three major Orthodox churches in Ukraine, alongside the Ukrainian Orthodox Church , and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church...

 in remembrance of the slain soldiers fighting for independence of Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

. Anatoliy Haydamaka, author of the memorial, introduced the monument as a hill 7m high, upon which stands a 10m red column. The red column serves a mnemonic
Mnemonic
A mnemonic , or mnemonic device, is any learning technique that aids memory. To improve long term memory, mnemonic systems are used to make memorization easier. Commonly encountered mnemonics are often verbal, such as a very short poem or a special word used to help a person remember something,...

 purpose. It is a direct reference to the similar columns of the main building of the Kiev University
Kiev University
Taras Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv , colloquially known in Ukrainian as KNU is located in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. It is the third oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and Kharkiv University. Currently, its structure...

, whence hailed the majority of students laid at Kruty. A chapel accompanies the memorial at the bottom of the hill, while a lake in the shape of a cross was dug out nearby. President Yushchenko officially dedicated the memorial, calling the actions of the Ukrainian cadet battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...

at the Battle of Kruty - a lesson for the living generation:
President Yushchenko noted that for almost 90 years, Ukrainians were forced to ignore this event in their history, "never stop at this site and never even look at this field." In conclusion, Yushchenko applauded those who preserved the site, and allowed "another page of our history to come back to our memory."

Vandalism

On May 20, 2007, the monument was vandalized with yellow paint covering the statue and anti-Ukrainian messages written over it. The monument's sculptor stated that this was the second time the monument was attacked by vandals.
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