Ukraine: Iconoclasm and the Kiev Metro

Olimpiiska Station, Kiev Metro, December 2019

The Kiev Metro is a classic ex-USSR metro system with palatial, ornate stations and distinctive artistic and political designs, although two waves of decommunisation in Ukraine first in the 1990s and then after 2015 have removed many of the original designs. But the stations still retain the palatial feel of an ex-USSR metro system following the principle that public spaces should be chandeliered palaces to be used by the people, and in any case many of the less overtly Soviet-linked designs remain. 

The design of Olympiiska station above was inspired by the 1980 Moscow Olympics, with the station's chandeliers in the style of the spokes of a bicycle wheel and grey marble arcades to the platforms. 

Bronze plaque as a ventilation grille in Vokzalna Station. Workers, peasants, students, intellectuals and Ukrainian traditional culture are united under the Soviet flag, though with the hammer and sickle now rubbed out. The man on the right wears a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt with his suit. 

At Vokzalna station at Kiev's railway station, the central underground hall is lined with bronze plaques as ventilation grilles. They tell the story of Ukraine's history, starting with the country's Cossack heritage and progressing through revolution and the Great Patriotic War, ending with a plaque of Ukraine's ancient and modern peoples together in continuity. 

However, many of the plaques have now had their text and symbols removed; Wikimedia Commons at least still has older photos archived from before the 2015 wave of iconoclasm: 

• Knights of the Kievan Rus'
• The Pereyaslav Council of 1654, unifying the Cossacks with Muscovy
• Peasant rebellions
• All Power to the Soviets! 
• Reunification of the Ukrainian lands, 1939, ie. the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. 
• The Great Patriotic War
• Solidarity of peoples
• In a free, new family

Mosaics in Zoloti Vorota (Golden Gate) station. St George, representing Moscow on one side of the station. The opposite side shows the archangel Michael, representing Kiev. 

Another ornately-designed station is Zoloti Vorota, the Golden Gate. It's designed according the style of a Kievan Rus' temple, with mosaics of the saints and history of the Ruthenian lands. 

Anthony of Kiev and Theodosius of Kiev at Zoloti Vorota station

The usual chandeliers of Soviet public spaces are still there. Overall, it feels very much symbolic of Ukraine's transition between the Soviet and post-Soviet world. 

Chandeliers and mosaics at Zoloti Vorota station

Other stations are also themed - Universytet station outside the University of Kiev contains busts of philosophers, scientists and poets. 

Universytet station. The far wall once carried a bust of Lenin, completing the scene, though this was removed in the 1990s wave of decommunisation. 

Other stations once had much more Soviet socialist-realist design and imagery, but this has now been almost completely covered up or removed. Examples include the former Lenin sculpture and quotes at Teatralna (formerly Leninska) station, Red Army artwork at Palats "Ukraina" (formerly Chervonoarmiiska, Red Army) station, and geometric red star artwork at Lybidska (formerly Dzerzhynska) station. 

"Made in USSR" by Metrovagonmash in Moscow, 1991

The trains themselves were made in Moscow still carry plaques saying Made in USSR, being close to identical to the metro trains I'd used in Minsk and St Petersburg. 

Ukraine has its own reasons for decommunisation, both in the 1990s and after 2015. Even so, there's still much to see and the designs of the stations remain distinctive and clearly Soviet-based with its architectural pylons. It's still great to visit and use, and its design and architecture remain an attraction in itself.