Archive · then and now

Photo memories

Kyiv in photographs — from the Chain Bridge and horse trams to Euromaidan and the city that held out in 2022. For many of them we found a modern photo taken from the same spot: drag the slider to compare.

Then and now

Drag the divider to compare the old and new photo.

  • Khreshchatyk in ruins — 19421942 Khreshchatyk in ruins — TodayToday
    Khreshchatyk at Arkhitektora Horodetskoho StreetKhreshchatyk in ruinsThe ruined Main Post Office and Grand Hotel seen from Horodetskoho Street in 1942. The rubble on Khreshchatyk was not cleared during the occupation. On the right, the same spot in 2025: the corner of Khreshchatyk and the Maidan is now occupied by the post-war Main Post Office (22 Khreshchatyk).Archival photo: Endre Kiss, 1942, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Valchuk Taisiia, 2025, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • The Central Committee building — Today The Central Committee building — 1941 1941Today
    1 Mykhailivska SquareThe Central Committee buildingThe Central Committee building on Mykhailivska Square (1936–1938, architect Iosif Langbard) in autumn 1941, a colour photograph by German photographer Johannes Hähle. It was built on the site of the demolished St Michael's Cathedral; today it houses Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Archival photo: Йоганнес Гехле, 1941, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Suicasmo, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • Ruins of the Dormition Cathedral — Today Ruins of the Dormition Cathedral — 1942 1942Today
    Kyiv Pechersk LavraRuins of the Dormition CathedralThe Kyiv Pechersk Lavra in 1942: on the left the ruins of the Dormition Cathedral, blown up on 3 November 1941, on the right the Church of Saints Anthony and Theodosius, with the Dnipro beyond. The cathedral was rebuilt in 1998–2000.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1942, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: KyivMax, 2021, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • Tram in Pushcha-Vodytsia — 19491949 Tram in Pushcha-Vodytsia — TodayToday
    Pushcha-VodytsiaTram in Pushcha-VodytsiaA No. 12 tram among the pines of Pushcha-Vodytsia, June 1949. The line to the forest resort opened back in 1904 and still runs today, one of Kyiv's most picturesque tram routes. On the right, a Tatra tram on the forest line in Pushcha-Vodytsia, 2018.Archival photo: Юрій Хміль, 1949, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Tonya Voznyuk, 2018, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

From the archive

  • Khreshchatyk after liberation, 1943 1943
    KhreshchatykKhreshchatyk after liberationNovember 1943: Soviet infantry march along the ruined Khreshchatyk after the liberation of Kyiv. The street was rebuilt from the late 1940s through the 1950s.Archival photo: Аркадій Шайхет, 1943, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Kyiv, 23 June 1941, 1941 1941
    KyivKyiv, 23 June 1941Kyivans on the second day of the war, 23 June 1941, photographed by press photographer Kazimir Lishko. Kyiv was bombed at dawn on 22 June; three months later, on 19 September, German troops occupied the city.Archival photo: Казимир Лішко, 1941, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • Fire on Khreshchatyk, 1941 1941
    Khreshchatyk / Prorizna StreetFire on KhreshchatykFire at the corner of Khreshchatyk and Prorizna Street, 24 September 1941. That day a series of explosions of charges laid by Soviet sappers began, and within days the city centre, including almost all of Khreshchatyk, burned out.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1941, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Market in occupied Kyiv, 1942 1942
    Peremohy SquareMarket in occupied KyivThe market on today's Peremohy Square (then 1905 Uprising Square), 1942. In the occupied city ration cards provided almost nothing, and Kyivans survived by bartering clothes, belongings, whatever they had.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1942, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • Tram No. 6 in 1942, 1942 1942
    KyivTram No. 6 in 1942A No. 6 tram on the "Railway crossing – Film Studio" route in occupied Kyiv, 1942. Some tram lines were restored within months of the fighting and remained the city's main public transport.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1942, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • POWs marched through Kyiv, 1944 1944
    Central KyivPOWs marched through KyivOn 16 August 1944 a column of German prisoners of war was marched through the streets of ruined Kyiv, watched by residents and soldiers. Photograph by Heorhii Uhrynovych. In the background are ruined buildings that had only begun to be cleared.Archival photo: Георгій Угринович, 1944, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Temporary tracks on Khreshchatyk, 1944 1944
    KhreshchatykTemporary tracks on KhreshchatykKhreshchatyk cleared of rubble, with temporary tram tracks used to haul debris away, photographed by Ivan Shagin. The new street, almost twice as wide, was built up until the mid-1950s.Archival photo: Іван Шагін, 1944, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • May Day parade, 1945, 1945 1945
    Sofiiska SquareMay Day parade, 1945An SU-152 self-propelled gun passes the Bohdan Khmelnytsky monument during the May Day parade of 1945, a week before the end of the war in Europe. Photograph by Heorhii Uhrynovych.Archival photo: Георгій Угринович, 1945, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

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