How Ukraine can move beyond its Soviet architectural legacy
Despite destruction, the war could push Ukraine to rebuild better, leaving behind outdated Soviet living conditions. Yurii, whose home was hit twice by Russian strikes, may be among those who benefit.
Editor’s Note: We are dedicated to personal stories in the fight against authoritarianism. And not just about destruction – but also with a view for rebuilding what is destroyed.
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In other coverage, we have an item in our ‘News of the Day’ section that hits close to home to our team. Our mine awareness trainer, call-sign ‘Swampy,’ was killed during a de-mining mission near the frontlines. Scroll down to see our report on his memorial.
Yurii Semenenko found his apartment mangled and damaged when he returned to his home in Kharkiv after the withdrawal of Russia forces in 2023.
The apartment above them burned down, while their apartment got flooded.
It was devastating. But he rolled his sleeves up, and rebuilt it with his wife, Olha, to ensure their daughter had a good place to live.
But a year later, a Russian glide bomb hit his apartment building, tearing it to pieces.
“We’ve learned the hard way that all material things — they come and go,” Yurii said. He had been sitting on his couch watching TV, preparing to give an online class at the university. When he stepped into the hallway, he was thrown inside by a strong blast.
“I was lying with the glass and red dust everywhere. The room [I had been in] collapsed. My wife said, ‘We just bought a couch for that room.’ Yes. We did,” Yurii told The Counteroffensive.
All their hard work. Gone.
As Russia continues to bomb Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, the buildings in the Northern Saltivka district continue to collapse — just like many Soviet-style buildings across Ukraine.
Following the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine kept many Soviet habits, including those in urban planning. These buildings are not only ill-suited for modern living but have also proven to be inadequate for wartime.
Cheap, low-durability and unsafe housing structures are unfit for wartime conditions. Residential blocks clustered around industrial zones. These are all remnants of a Soviet legacy. Today, Ukraine has the chance to leave it behind through post-war reconstruction.
This is not only an opportunity to create safer buildings and more livable cities, but a chance to break free from lingering Soviet-era traditions and move toward new standards of urban life. War, though devastating, can become a catalyst for long-overdue change that may have seemed too daunting during peace.
Yurii and his wife moved to Northern Saltivka in Kharkiv in September 2020, just a month before their daughter was born. The housing there was affordable, and Saltivka is the largest bedroom suburb of Kharkiv.
The place was mostly built between the 1980s and the 1990s, when the Soviet Union’s collapse was looming. Before the full-scale invasion, nearly half a million people lived in Saltivka.
Yurii holds a PhD in engineering and works at the Ukrainian State University of Railway Transport. His wife, Olha, is a teaching assistant at an aviation institute. Yurii kept many of his recent scientific documents in their apartment. But they were now destroyed, alongside most of their memories at home.
Despite Ukraine gaining independence over 30 years ago, Soviet influence continues to linger. According to Yurii, much of Saltivka comprises of panel buildings: prefabricated concrete structures with built-in door and window openings. These became the dominant form of housing in the Soviet Union.
Panel buildings spread across the Soviet Union in the 1950s, when there was a housing shortage and people were massively moving from rural areas to the cities after World War II.
In 1959, when the Soviet Union set its course toward mass housing construction, Soviet architects, along with General Secretary Khrushchev, traveled to France to examine panel buildings designed by engineer Raymond Camus, who had patented the technology.
Khrushchev was highly impressed by these buildings, as they were quick and simple to build, so the USSR decided to purchase a license for a mass-production system.
The Soviets eventually reworked the technology – the buildings ended up looking even simpler than their French counterparts.
As part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine started to build panel buildings across the city. Cities had to adapt fast to the growing number of people looking for a place to stay. Panel buildings were ideal: the materials were cheap, and the construction was quick.
Authorities prioritized cost over comfort: the buildings were usually cold in the winter, and people could hear their neighbors’ phone calls across the thin walls.
"This was a period of 20th-century urbanization when people moved from villages to cities. Cities were often built in open fields. And we are still in a transition, we haven’t yet moved to a new understanding of housing… Such mass construction erases human relationships in cities," explained urbanist and head of the NGO Urban Reform, Oleksandra Naryzhna.
As a result, many areas in Ukraine became identical to one another, as their architecture became a symbol of Soviet identity, where no one was allowed to stand out or be different.
Yet, Yurii considered his neighborhood comfortable to live in. One of the reasons for this is that his building was built more recently than most of the ones in Saltivka.
"The most important thing for us, when our child was born, was to have a place where it was easy to walk with a stroller. We had everything we needed. There were a few shops nearby. I went to work, and my wife stayed home with the baby. We never imagined that war would come,” Yurii recalled, as he remembered peaceful times in Saltivka.
Even though panel buildings appeared during the Cold War era, they were not designed to endure war. Most Ukrainians today have nowhere to hide in their homes during an air raid alert, finding their basements a suitable alternative shelter.
But basements are not prepared to protect their residents from drones and missiles. Amid the lack of ventilation and emergency exits, a basement can turn into a deadly trap if targeted by Russian forces.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, panel buildings have collapsed if targeted by a missile or a drone.
This is what happened to Yurii’s building:
According to urbanist and architect Oleksandra Naryzhna, it’s unrealistic to think Ukraine can build every home to endure a missile or a drone. For now, that’s still a fantasy, she said. Yet, Ukraine can start by making sure there are shelters available in every building.
Naryzhna considers Israel a prime example of how to pursue this concept: every apartment has a shelter and armored windows and doors. In every city, you can also find shelters in public spaces, such as in bus stops.
After having had their home destroyed, Yurii believes post-war reconstruction should focus on creating better living conditions for Ukrainians, especially as he has a daughter who will be starting school soon.
Urbanists and architects tend to agree: the future of Ukrainian cities must lie in low-rise housing designed around cohesive blocks or neighborhoods. These buildings must also be equipped with alternative energy sources, since Ukrainians are experiencing daily blackouts throughout the war.
Modular and frame housing has recently become popular in Ukraine, as it can be assembled quickly and provides temporary shelter for people who have lost their homes. These structures are built on-site within a few days using the necessary materials and serve as housing until permanent homes are constructed. In case of danger, they can be dismantled and relocated within a few days.
Ukraine has also begun constructing homes using 3D printing technology, which allows them to be built in just a few days. These houses are more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. As monolithic structures, they have no gaps between construction elements, unlike panel buildings.
Moreover, some infrastructure in Ukraine may be built underground in preparation for a potential future war.
For example, underground schools already exist in Kharkiv, designed to provide education during constant shelling. This is not a permanent solution for children’s learning, but rather a contingency plan for times of danger. Having such facilities ensures that city life will not come to a complete halt if Russia launches another full-scale attack.
Besides, against the backdrop of the war, a rebuilt Ukraine needs to become more inclusive, considering the estimates of those affected by the war.
Inclusive infrastructure remains a crucial part of Ukraine’s rebuilding, as well as the construction of rehabilitation centers for victims that will be accessible in every city.
Take the Unbroken ecosystem in Lviv, which has been operating since 2022, working for IDPs, wounded soldiers, and civilians. It has departments for orthopedics, surgery, rehabilitation, and psychological assistance. In addition, prostheses are manufactured on site.
It used to be a problem in the Soviet Union that it was not always easy to get from home to the hospital. Now, all possible transportation lines are planned to be laid to the hospital, including trams.
According to Maria Pavliuk, the lead architect of the firm Balbek Bureau, demolishing all existing buildings can be expensive and environmentally harmful. Instead, she insists on using the existing structure and renovating the buildings.
Today, most Ukrainian cities — including the neighborhood where Yurii once lived — are built around residential areas: streets filled with randomly built buildings that turn cities into sprawling, chaotic ant colonies.
A solution would be to create more walkable cities.
“You get this feeling that it's yours, that you’re responsible for it. But with these large residential zones, no one really feels responsible. They feel like no man’s land,” said architect Maria Pavliuk.
Ukraine’s decentralization reform, launched in 2014, has given communities a greater voice in the decisions made for their cities. Families such as Yurii’s can now help decide on the construction of schools and hospitals in their community, instead of entirely relying on their government.
“There are communities, for example, where only three children live. Do they need a school? In the Soviet Union, that question simply wouldn’t have been asked. There was a plan, so there had to be a school. But now, the community has the right to decide,” explained Tetiana Vodotyka, an academic director of MA in Urban Studies and Postwar Reconstruction at Kyiv School of Economics.
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NEWS OF THE DAY:
THE COUNTEROFFENSIVE’S ANTI-MINE TRAINER, CHRIS GARRETT, HONORED IN DEATH: During a ceremony in central Kyiv, visitors lit sparklers to honor the colorful life of an explosives expert nicknamed ‘Swampy.’ Family and friends gave eulogies and laid flowers at Chris Garrett’s portrait.
“I offered him a contract for [Ukrainian military], but you know, he's a homeless Viking, a gypsy, a vagrant who doesn't want to be driven back into the system,” said the deputy commander of the 3rd Army Corps, call-sign 'Kirt.' “He said: ‘Commander, you've tried to kill me too many times. Now I want to be on my own. I want to decide my own fate.’”
Tim here: A personal note, if you don’t mind – Swampy was the one who trained The Counteroffensive’s team in explosives awareness and mine-safety in the field. As I’ve said to our team, his knowledge lives in all of us who received the benefit of his training and experience. And that carries with it a great responsibility.
He was well-known in Kyiv’s volunteer community as someone who would go to any lengths to shield people and expand their knowledge of how to be safe.
“When I headed the training in the third assault brigade, I needed help. We were very raw. My friend Swampy and his friend Mark dropped everything, came and created a new generation of assault sappers for the third assault brigade,” Kirt recalled.
Garrett was fatally injured while defusing an explosive device on May 6 near Izium, in the Kharkiv region. Two other people were injured along with him. One of them, Nicholas Parsons, also died.
Swampy was a British bomb disposal expert who worked in Ukraine since the beginning of the war in 2014. In 2023, he founded the NGO ‘Prevail’, which specialized in clearing mines. During this time, he defused about 5,000–6,000 landmines, his colleague and friend Shaun Pinner said.
At the end of the event, a poem by Ukrainian dissident Mykhailo Semenko called ‘Patagonia’ was read out.
TRUMP TO SPEAK WITH RUSSIA AND UKRAINE: President Trump is expected to speak with Presidents Putin and Zelenskyy on Monday to end the "bloodbath" of war.
Trump's announcement follows a failed attempt at peace talks in Turkey earlier this week, where President Putin, despite proposing the meeting, did not attend. The Kremlin also launched its largest assault on Ukraine to date on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, expressing appreciation for what he called the US' "positive role" in facilitating peace efforts between Russia and Ukraine.
ZELENSKYY ATTENDS POPE LEO INAUGURAL MASS: Zelenskyy attended the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Sunday, following the Pope's expression of willingness to help mediate an end to the war in Ukraine. Rubio said the Holy See had extended a "very generous offer" to host peace talks, noting that the Vatican would be a neutral venue where both sides could feel at ease.
"The Holy See is always ready to help bring enemies together, face to face, to talk to one another," Pope Leo said.
ROMANIA, POLAND ELECTIONS WITH WAR IN MIND: Romanians head to the polls on Sunday in a presidential election shaped by the ongoing war in neighboring Ukraine.
The two leading candidates are Nicușor Dan, the centrist mayor of Bucharest, and George Simion, a right-wing populist who admires former President Donald Trump and has vowed to "make Romania great again."
Romania, a member of both NATO and the EU, shares a long border with Ukraine. Dan has pledged to provide Ukraine with whatever it needs to win the war, while Simion argues that military aid to Kyiv should end soon.
Meanwhile, Poles are voting in their presidential election amid rising security concerns due to the war in Ukraine, and growing unease that a return of President Trump could weaken America’s commitment to Europe.
DOG OF WAR
In memory of Swampy, and in keeping with our traditions not to feature a photo here when someone we know has passed, we will not include this section today.
Stay safe out there.
Best,
Tim
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Condolences to Swampy’s family and many friends and those he trained. This is so very sad and another moment where the very real human cost of this war is made evident.
Thank you for these articles, which help me to grow my understanding and compassion for those living in a war zone. This includes the loss of such precious people, the seemingly endless suffering, the Ukrainian choice to get on with it, and endure for the sake of freedom. This is a particularly needed lesson for us in the United States, where a substantial minority of us do not seem to value that freedom at all.