Museum of the occupation of Kyiv

The rethinking of historical events in the context of state-national policy led to the need to truthfully present the history of the city in the most dramatic periods of the life of the Ukrainian people: from the beginning of the Ukrainian revolution in 1917 to the restoration of state sovereignty and independence in 1991. Highlighting the features of the numerous occupations of Kyiv in the 20th century . is the task of the museum and the main focus of its exposition. The existence of any occupation regime is accompanied by two phenomena that characterize the behavior of the local population: resistance and collaboration. These topics are extremely relevant for modern Ukraine. Therefore, the museum offers a new look at the occupation regimes, first of all, the Soviet one, whose policy is still controversial in Ukraine.

The museum examines the occupation regimes through the prism of their activities in a specific place, namely in Kyiv. The main themes of the museum exposition are: – Ideology of occupation regimes. It is shown here that the political goals of these regimes were outside the borders of Ukraine; they were considered only as a resource for their implementation. - Occupation terror. This chapter highlights that throughout their existence, the occupying regimes consciously considered and pursued policies of extermination and intimidation of the local population as a primary means of securing their rule. – Destruction of the urban environment. It is demonstrated how the occupation regimes purposefully destroyed or distorted the urban space in accordance with their ideological and political goals. The specified topics are revealed in the museum: – photographs and documents, personal belongings of the direct participants in the events, postcards, newspapers from the period of occupation; - samples of weapons and military equipment used by the warring parties; - maps and diagrams. The museum invites you to visit the interactive VR exhibition "Babyn Yar". The Museum of the History of the City of Kyiv worked on this project for more than a year. More than 50 specialists participated in its creation: historians, professional actors, 3D artists and specialists in virtual reality development. The surroundings of the scenes were created in 3D using archival materials, and some objects were borrowed from the museum's collections, where they were scanned in volume using photogrammetry. The resulting materials were filled with interactivity and assembled on the Unreal Engine platform.