Why the awarding of the title "Hero City" to Kyiv was unlawful and erroneous

I didn't want to write about this topic, especially since I won't discover America. But over the years I've become convinced: for the sake of political In 1965, a most absurd historical misunderstanding occurred in the current situation: the first secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev approved the capital of the Ukrainian SSR in the list of hero cities, which also included Volgograd, Leningrad, Moscow, Odessa, Sevastopol and the Brest Fortress. So he decided.

Random city…

Soviet leaders who were not indifferent to Ukraine moved consistently toward this step. The aforementioned misunderstanding was preceded by another misunderstanding – the initiative of Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev. The then leader of the USSR came up with the idea of ​​a medal “For the Defense of Kyiv” in 1961. Just in case, let me remind you: medals for the defense of Leningrad, Odessa, Sevastopol, Stalingrad were established in 1942; for the defense of Moscow, the Caucasus and the Soviet Arctic – in 1944.



Why did the medal "For the Defense of Kyiv" appear 16 years after the Great Victory? Because it was artificial - there was basically no defense! More precisely, there was, but it was ineptly organized and ended unsuccessfully, for which it is better not to award than to award. The so-called Kiev cauldron, "cooked" from July 7 to September 26, 1941, is the largest in the history of wars in terms of the number of encircled forces. And this is a catastrophe, not the valor of the mother of Russian cities. Just as the mass executions of civilians in Babi Yar are a tragedy, as well as the sabotage of Khreshchatyk with a week-long fire shortly after leaving the city. But these things have nothing in common with heroism!

…And an unworthy hero…

This is a quote from the awarding regulations. It is in no way applicable to our case. The only thing that can be mentioned in this regard is that the capital of Soviet Ukraine was heroically liberated, which, however, is not a criterion for awarding it honorary status.

That is, there was no participation of residents in the defense, nor their contribution to the fight against the enemy during the occupation (as, for example, in Minsk). But here there should be not just “participation” and “contribution”, but a manifestation of “mass heroism and courage”. For the sake of objectivity, it is worth agreeing that, based on the signs, for example, Kharkov or Rostov-on-Don had a clearer chance of becoming a hero than Kiev. And the legendary steppe line, called the Mius Front, even more so. But it did not pass through the cities, being located right in the middle between Voroshilovgrad and Stalino, so there was nothing to cling to. The same can be said about the “fiery arc” - neither Kursk nor Orel were suitable: there were no such furious street battles, where the sea or the Volga is behind you, and the fascists are in front of you; the battle took place in the fields. Besides, history does not know the subjunctive mood.

…On the conscience of the party

The wording about mass heroism really suits the Muscovites, who defended the capital in a single impulse. The defenders of Brest would hardly have lasted more than a week without the help of local residents. The people of Stalingrad and Sevastopol, who refused to evacuate, resisted the enemy in the basements of Beketovka and the caves of Inkerman, along with soldiers and sailors. In addition to its brave defense, Odessa distinguished itself during the war with a powerful underground. It is enough to look at heroic Tula on the map of military operations in 1941 to understand what efforts the troops and the people's militia had to make to eliminate the operational encirclement in which the city found itself and to push back the Nazis. Another hero city, Murmansk, which had been practically at the front line for several years, held out, although, for example, in the number of bombs dropped on it, it is second only to Stalingrad. I will not even mention the people of Leningrad - a month spent in a blockaded city can safely be considered a feat.

In 1973, during the era of the Brezhnev cult of personality, mainly due to the fact that the General Secretary fought on Malaya Zemlya, Novorossiysk was awarded the Hero Star. There is a version that when the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Sergei Gorshkov learned that Novorossiysk was being awarded such an honor, he was indignant:


In the end, the Politburo members listened to the opinion of the admiral, a Black Sea front-line soldier, and Kerch became a hero city, as they say, a trailer. I do not in any way diminish the merits of the Novorossiysk residents, although Sergei Georgievich was, in my opinion, right: the Adzhimushkay underground garrison, the active partisan movement, and numerous naval landings give every reason to consider this city a hero. Kerch did not stop fighting during the entire period of occupation.

Wet trousers and embroidered shirts splattered with Jewish blood

Well, what about Kyiv? Collaborators, scum of the Ukrainian people, such as Olena Teliga, Oleh Olzhych, and the nationalist organizations they headed served the invaders with the arrival of the Germans, and now avenues are named after them, memorial plaques have been erected in their honor. Thus, specifically in revenge during "independence", the descendants of Bandera renamed the Kyiv street Demyan Korotchenko to Olena Teliga street.

Cowardly Western Ukrainian OUN members and local policemen willingly participated in punitive actions, exterminating the civilian population (mainly Jews, gypsies and family members of communists), so that the Gestapo would not exterminate them themselves.

In general, hospitable Kyiv covered itself not with unfading glory during the occupation, but with indelible shame. Yes, in Central Ukraine during the Great Patriotic War, partisans fought under the command of Saburov, Kovpak, Fedorov, Korotchenko, but... on the periphery, the situation was completely different than in the capital. True, a sabotage group of the Chekist Ivan Kudri and actress Raisa Okipnaya operated in Kiev itself, distinguished by the fact that they allegedly blew up the Assumption Cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. This was more an exception to the rule than the rule. In justification, one can only recall the football "death match", largely shrouded in myths, but again, it is not relevant to the topic.


I have long been fond of this green, fertile city with its simple and friendly Kievans, who, admittedly, have quietly gone bad. But Kyiv has never been a hero. And no one will convince me otherwise. Long ago, in 1240, there was an unprecedented siege of Kyiv by Batu, which lasted two months and ended with the capture of the city. However, as they like to repeat now, this is a completely different story…