The city authorities of Kyiv will file a lawsuit against the owner of the Zelensky estate and the developer who demolished it without authorization. The city authorities will demand to rebuild the manor in the form it had.
This was reported by the mayor of Kyiv Vitaliy Klitschko.
Klitschko emphasizes that the city did not transfer the land under the Zelensky estate to the owner of the building, which indicates the illegal use of the land for any works.
"Therefore, the installation of any fences around the site, the entry of any construction equipment is illegal. And the police must react to it," the mayor said.
Also, Klitschko adds, the city authorities will insist that the law enforcement agencies find out and make public all those involved in the process of destroying the estate.
"The city will help the law enforcement officers in every possible way, will provide the necessary documentation so that the investigation is objective and the guilty are brought to justice," Klitschko emphasized.
On July 22, the National Police reported that they were searching the owners of the house and the construction company that was demolishing the estate.
What preceded
On the evening of July 19, a historical building — the Zelensky estate — built in 1890, was demolished without authorization in Kyiv. The estate was located at the street Konyskoho, 22. The Department of Cultural Heritage Protection of the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) called the situation "impertinent and cynical self-government."
The department also noted that just two days before the demolition, the non-governmental organization "Heritage Kyiv" submitted a package of documentation to the department regarding the assignment of the building to the status of a monument. This step was part of the action plan for the implementation of the petition No. 12870 "Preserve the historic Zelensky estate", which was supported by the mayor.
Kyiv police reported on July 20 that they are establishing the circumstances of the demolition of the historic building. Law enforcement officers have opened criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Art. 298 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — destruction of objects of cultural heritage. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for up to three years.
CO "Heritage Kyiv"stated that the estate was demolished by "Turgenev Build" LLC, and the activists who tried to prevent them were attacked by unknown men.
According to the activists, they want to build the residential complex "Turgenev" on the site of the historical monument.
The department emphasized that this building currently does not have the legal status of a monument or a "newly discovered object of cultural heritage", as provided by the monument protection legislation. At the same time, this building is located in the historical area of the city and is recognized as a significant historical building. This status was supposed to protect the house from wear and tear.
Because of the demolition of the building, on July 20, about a thousand Kyiv citizens came to a rally in front of KCSA.
On July 21, the prosecutorʼs office in Kyiv opened a criminal case due to the demolition of the Zelensky estate.
The prosecutorʼs office said that construction had been going on at the site of the building for a long time without any permission from the Ministry of Culture. So in January 2024, she was arrested to stop construction and not touch the building. However, on July 19, unknown persons demolished the estate. Now the prosecutorʼs office is investigating the destruction of seized property (Part 1 of Article 388 of the Criminal Code) and arbitrary construction (Part 3 of Article 197-1 of the Criminal Code). The equipment used to demolish the estate was found and seized.
What is known about the Zelensky estate
The Zelensky estate (also known as the Malinin manor) was built in 1890. At first it was made of wood, and later it was covered with bricks.
The building was commissioned by the merchant Vasyl Malinin, and he owned the estate for at least 20 years. It became famous due to the fact that in the period from 1911 to 1915, a family of wealthy citizens Zelensky lived here.
Since 2018, the building has been gradually dismantled, writes Liga.net. Activists believe that the dismantling of the building is connected with the residential complex "Turgenev", which was built right behind the estate. In their opinion, the developer wants to build a second row of housing estates on the site of the estate.
In 2022, the developer Victor Besaha confirmed to Liga.net the information about the second phase of the residential complex, but then these plans were suspended because the Ministry of Culture was checking the historical value of the building. Besaha stated that the manor is not a historical monument, because "in 2007 this house was demolished and built from scratch."
Activist Dmytro Perov wrote a few days before the demolition that in April 2024 “Turgenev Build” LLC ordered a "scientific" study, according to which the building cannot acquire the status of a monument, because at one time it was built by order of the professor of Russian philology Malinin.