Ukraine Between the Wars. 3: Poltava, Kharkiv, Izyum

The Exaltation of the Cross Monastery was the site of the fateful Battle of Poltava, 1709. Although not yet finished Charles XII, Emperor of Sweden, used the site as his headquarters, ousting a monk from one of the cells for his personal quarters. On the outskirts of the present city and sitting upon a moderate rise, it was a suitable choice for the coming conflict.

We stayed only a couple of days in Poltava, not being able to find a suitable place to stay long. Consequently I did not get to see the city like I wanted to. A shame, because this is a city where a major historical event happened, the Battle of Poltava, which signaled the rising of the Beast to the East (Russia) and the demise of the one to the North (Sweden). I don’t mean to imply that Russia was more “beastly” than Sweden. I just liked the sound of the phrase! If anything the Swedish Empire of Charles XII was worse than the fitfully enlightened reign of Russia in the time of Peter the Great.

The Column of Glory, celebrating the victory of Peter I over Swedish forces.

A glimpse of times somewhat more recent. This beautiful building has been repurposed into a grocery store as well as other ventures.

A detail from the previous building pictured. One of the the signs pointed to a store titled “Comrades from Europe”.

A mosaic depicting that momentous battle. This photo and much more information can be found at:
http://www.battle.poltava.ua/index.html. (Note: My browser flagged the site as “insecure”, not having the https prefix. Use at your own disgression.)

This is just one of the many of the gorgeous homes along Monastyrska Street. The city has several areas with houses like this as well as others which, having been damaged in previous wars, have given way to huge Soviet-style buildings (especially those surrounding the Column of Glory Plaza) or more modern Western style buildings.

. Back to school for little Oleg. He rides the same bus we take to the train station and on our way to Kharkiv.

I was so pleased that we were able to make it to the city of Kharkiv, just twenty miles or so from Russia. And it has a lot of Russian character to it, as can be expected. We had better apartment options here so we stayed a bit longer.

Eighty years ago my Uncle Erich, in the Wehrmacht under General Paulus, may have trudged right through this city on his way to the fateful encounter in Stalingrad. As far as my mother knew he never made it back from that Russian city. I often read memoirs and websites on this whole topic, hoping to come across mention of one Erich Kotenbeutel.

Left: Erich Kotenbeutel Center: His unit before they pulled out to Russia. Erich is behind the table, right side, grimacing into the sun. Right: My mother, Martha (Kotenbeutel) Riggle. She was stationed in Leeuwarden, Holland, in an anti-aircraft site intercepting British and American planes. Five years later she intercepted – and married – Leslie Riggle, my father.

Our first proper view of the city was looking back at the grand train station where we arrived from.

What we appreciated very much was the large expanses of green spaces within and on the north-east edge of the city. These were easily accesible by metro.

The supermarket. This is where we would do our grocery shopping when we lived here. A lot of food we sorely miss: good bread, chocolate, buckwheat…

Pedestrians near Freedom Square. A very modern city.

Just like in the previous city of Poltava, there are many examples of old architecture. I believe this one was converted to a Bed and Breakfast.

This grim hero was once a Soviet soldier, I think. He has now been given a new identity – and a new flag! I am sure the flag is not there now.

There are some buildings that were damaged but I am not sure how. There certainly is a lot more damage as of this writing. Painful to think about it.

This artful facade is over the entrance to the Kharkivsʹkyy Derzhavnyy Akademichnyy Teatr Puppet Theater across from Constitution Square. The building, formerly a bank, since 1925 converted into its present iteration. The building is now listed as “damaged or destroyed”. Note the doll on the right has CCCP on his helmet. A glimpse of the Kharkiv – and the Ukraine – that might still be. Peace and harmony between different peoples.

More to come later.

Grain elevator, Savyntsi, Kharkiv Oblast, between Kharkiv and Izyum. I was impressed by the number and size of these storage facilities. And I have lived in Kansas! Truly Ukraine is the Breadbasket of the World. Or was.

Two unusual sites greeted us as we arrived at the Izyum train station. This sign that showed the change of Izyum’s  Square from “Lenin” to “Lennon Square”. All part of the country’s desovietization. The second site was this quirky statue of a lion and woman. I could not find any information on this. Anyone?

Finally lunchtime! Elementary school.

Commemoration of the many citizens from Izyum who died in the Chernobyl disaster.

War Memorial. Rocket launcher. This whole area, known as the Izyum Salient, changed bloody hands a couple of times in the Second World War. A few hundred meters to the east was a fortress, built in 1681, the same year as the founding of the city. The city grew. No trace of the fortress remains.

The uphill walkway that leads to the grand statue complex (next picture) is lined with tanks, howitzers, and other “chariots of firepower”.

Scythian Kurgan “Mother” statues, 5th century BC. This hilltop in the west of Izyum is the site of many battles and remembrances over the centuries. Cimmerians, Scythians, Mongols, Cossacks, Ukrainian, Nazis, Soviets, Ukrainians, and now Russians. I am sure I left out many others.

Next: Kramatorsk, Mariupol, Berdyansk (link below).

Ukraine Between the Wars. 4: Kramatorsk, Mariupol, Berdyansk

DONETSK DETOUR: September 2020

We overstayed our time in Ukraine more than twice the allotted time in our visa. Because of Covid we were able to stretch out three months to seven. This gave us the chance to have a longer exploration of the country, pretty much exploring all of the general regions. This post is about our foray into the southeast part of Ukraine.

From Kharkiv, a big city about twenty miles from the Russian border, we decided to venture south to the region (but not the city) of Donetsk. Having followed recent news stories from there and Luhansk, we made sure not to be part of all that excitement. We took the train to Izyum. A very slow train it was too. It seems Ukraine has either cheap slow trains or pricy zoomers. We have ridden both.

Here are some photos of these few days in this part of Ukraine.

IZYUM

We would have preferred to stay longer in Izyum but hotels or other accommodations were hard to find. We finally found an interesting old apartment but, thanks to some miscommunication somewhere, we had to leave earlier than planned.

Ancient Scythian Kurgan statues watching over the town

.Very Sovietesque War Memorial

Left: School is out. Center: Our apartment. Right: Bus Terminal

Concerning that middle photo: We were told abruptly that our check out was at 10, not 12, as we were told by her agent

We had to hurriedly pack..

KRAMATORSK

Downtown. Shopping Center with pretty decent grocery store, Foxtrot electronics chain, Mexican restaurant, and gym.

Like many Ukrainian cities, Kramatorsk has a lot of green spaces. This church is at the edge of the main one in the middle of town.

Top three photos: MiG, War memorial relief, Mil Mi-24 Helicopter.
Bottom three photos:
Left: Cautionary poster about unexploded ordinance in the are. When outside the city watch where you step!
Center: Our apartment building. Play area marked out with colored tires. Staying at apartments in some of these cities is often easier and more economical than hotels. It certainly is nice to have access to a private kitchen.
Right: Fruit vendor. These oddly elongated purple grapes were delicious. Maybe even better than Concords.

BUMPY BUS RIDE THROUGH DONETSK

Six hours on an open-windowless bus on a mostly bumpy road is a bit much. But we made it to Mariupol. We had to go through three military checkpoints. It was handy using our Me-Tarzan-You-Jane Russian.

The trip would have taken only three hours maybe, but we had to do a wide arc around the separatist area. We saw a bunker and shell damage on some buildings.

Myrolyubivka, Donetsk. Just east of Pokrovsk. That is an unreclaimed slag mountain in the background, an ecological hangover from the Soviet era.

It’s funny that at those three checkpoints people quickly put on their masks. Then took them off once we were on the way again. At the Pokrovsk checkpoint we had to all get out of the bus and show ID. Our clearance, because of the language barrier, took longer.

MARIUPOL

Near the city center

Left: Mariupol has many murals and artwork, some interesting and others merely prosaic.

Right: The hand around the little girl’s throat seems somewhat creepy.

Top left: Historic Gamper House. All four of these houses are in the district close to the Sea of Azov. These old buildings are beautifully dilapidated, in my opinion.

Next post: BERDYANSK