The Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications on March 24 included the Evmenii Zelensky estate from the second half of the 19th century in Kyiv in the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine. The building was demolished in July last year — now its remains are a monument of architecture and history of local importance.
This is stated on the departmentʼs website. The ministry has already published a corresponding order.
Now the Kyiv City Military Administration (KCMA)
has:
- notify the owner of the cultural heritage monument or its authorized body about the entry of the monument into the State Register;
- by the end of 2025, but no later than 6 months after the end or lifting of martial law, update accounting documentation, taking into account the order of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications on the status of the building, and create accounting records in paper and electronic form;
- develop and approve scientific and design documentation that defines the boundaries and rules for using the monumentʼs territory;
- prepare and approve technical documentation on establishing the boundaries of the monument territory referred to in the first paragraph of the order;
- submit an application for entry of established restrictions on land use into the State Land Cadastre.
The implementation of the order will be monitored by Deputy Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine Mykola Tochytskyi, Serhiy Belyaev.
What preceded
The historic building at 22 Konysky St. was demolished on July 19, 2024. Two days before that, the public organization “Heritage Kyiv” submitted documents to the department to grant the estate the status of a monument.
Kyiv police have opened criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Article 298 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — destruction of cultural heritage sites.
"Heritage Kyiv"stated that the estate was demolished by the developer "Turgenev Build", and they allegedly want to build the residential complex "Turgenev" on the site of the monument. Activists who wanted to prevent the demolition were attacked by unknown persons.
The Zelensky estate before destruction.
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 house did not have the legal status of a monument, it was located in the cityʼs historical area, so it was recognized as a significant historical building. This was supposed to protect it.
Due to the demolition of the building, on July 20, almost a thousand Kyiv residents took to the streets in front of the Kyiv City State Administration.
On July 21, the prosecutorʼs office in Kyiv opened a criminal case over the demolition of the Zelensky estate. Construction had been underway on the site for a long time without any permission from the Ministry of Culture. So in January 2024, she was arrested so that construction would stop and the building would not be touched.
On July 24, Kyiv decided to renew the composition of the Advisory Council for the Protection of Cultural Heritage under the Kyiv City State Administration.
In November 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that the demolition of the Zelensky estate was legal.
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