The court found it legal to demolish the Zelensky estate — it was demolished in the summer

The Supreme Court recognized the legality of the demolition of the historical object "Evmenii Zelensky Manor House" in the center of Kyiv. It was destroyed without authorization in July 2024.

This was reported by an activist and preservationist Dmytro Perov.

According to him, the decision was made by a panel of judges headed by Andriy Rybachuk. In particular, the court recognized as legal the issuance of town planning conditions and restrictions on the reconstruction of the Zelensky estate.

"And this [decision passed by the court] despite the fact that the building did receive the status of a monument of history and architecture. According to the law, the only permitted type of work on monuments is their restoration. This decision can affect the formation of law enforcement practice, and therefore provide grounds for the destruction of other monuments as well," Dmytro Perov added.

What preceded

The historical building at the address of st. Konyskoho, 22 was demolished on July 19, 2024. Two days before that, the non-governmental organization "Heritage Kyiv" submitted documents to the department to give the manor the status of a monument.

The Kyiv police opened criminal proceedings under 2 Art. 298 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — destruction of objects of cultural heritage.

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"Heritage Kyiv"stated that the estate was demolished by the developer "Turgenev Build", and they apparently want to build the "Turgenev" residential complex on the site of the monument. Activists who wanted to prevent the destruction were attacked by unknown persons.

The Ministry of Culture assures that it did not issue any permits for the demolition of the Zelensky estate in Kyiv. They emphasized that although the building did not have the legal status of a monument, it was in the historical area of the city, so it was recognized as a significant historical building. It was supposed to protect him.

Because of the demolition of the building, on July 20, almost a thousand Kyiv rezidents came to a rally in front of the Kyiv City State Administration.

On July 21, the prosecutorʼs office in Kyiv opened a criminal case due to the demolition of the Zelensky estate. For a long time, construction was carried out on the site of the building without any permission from the Ministry of Culture. So in January 2024, she was arrested to stop construction and not touch the building.

Already on July 24, Kyiv decided to update the composition of the Advisory Council for the Protection of Cultural Heritage under the Kyiv City State Administration.

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