Interesting facts about Motherland monument in Kyiv

Motherland is taller than the Statue of Liberty

The Motherland monument has surpassed the Statue of Liberty in height, standing at an impressive 102 meters, with the sword's tip reaching a height of 62 meters. In comparison, the Statue of Liberty is 93 meters tall.

The dimensions of the Motherland monument are truly impressive, with a 16-meter sword and a shield measuring 13 meters in height and 8 meters in width.

The construction of this monument marks the first of its kind in the Soviet Union with such grand proportions. Specialized cranes, reaching a height of 100 meters, were employed to install this structure.

The Motherland is the tallest monument in Europe (photo: Metinvest)

The sword is shorter than it was supposed to be

During the installation of the monument, the sword's tip was initially planned to be higher than it is now. However, it had to be shortened in response to a request from the Kyiv Metropolitan to ensure that Motherland would not exceed the height of the Great Lavra Bell Tower.

The monument is 12 meters lower than the highest point of the Lavra.

Comparison of the height of the Motherland and the Lavra's bell towers (photo: zruchno.travel)

Disproportionate body

During the construction process, architects noticed that the nose of the Motherland was too short and required urgent modification to achieve better facial proportions.

Later it was observed that the monument's breasts differed from each other. However, designers explained that this difference was due to anatomical features of a woman's body: when a woman raises her arms, her breasts stretch out and appear different from each other.

The monument repeats all anatomical features of a woman's body (photo: zruchno.travel)

AKA Victoria Petrivna

The monument was initially intended to commemorate the victory in World War II and was initially referred to as the Victory Monument. However, the name Motherland gained more popularity.

However, there exists a more colloquial name, Victoria Petrivna. This name cleverly plays on two notions at once: the Latin word "Victoria," meaning "victory," and the full name of Leonid Brezhnev's wife, Victoria Petrivna Brezhneva, the wife of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

The monument has a prototype

The exterior design of the monument was developed by the renowned Soviet artist Vasyl Borodai. Although, the first concept emerged back in 1972 and belonged to Yevhen Vuchetych. The prototype of his sketches was the artist Nina Danyleiko.

The artist Nina Danyleiko became the prototype of the Motherland (photo: old.honchar.org.ua)

The monument is supposed to stand for 150 years

The architects at the time envisioned that the Motherland would stand for 150 years. The monument was designed to withstand a magnitude-nine earthquake and strong winds.

It has been 42 years of it standing so far.

The construction plan of the Motherland

Replacing soviet symbolism

Today, Europe's tallest structure is undergoing further modifications. The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine has announced that by August 24, 2023, the emblem of the USSR will be replaced with the Ukrainian trident on the shield of the Motherland.

Installation works are underway, and there are initial successes: the old emblem has been removed!

The USSR coat of arms has already been removed from the monument (photo: RBC-Ukraine / Vitalii Nosach)

The trident will be made of two types of metal: stainless steel with a thickness of 1.7 mm and foreign-produced steel with a thickness of 1.5 mm.

Former Minister of Culture Olexandr Tkachenko has reported that the cost of the replacement has been reduced to 28 million hryvnias, despite earlier estimates reaching 36 million. The works are being carried out not with state funds, but through the support of patrons.