This World War II memorial complex, which opened in 1981, includes a museum with 18 different galleries, an eternal flame, plaques honouring particularly heroic Soviet cities and an outdoor display containing military planes and other equipment from various wars. The centrepiece of it all is of course the massive titanium statue of a woman, 62m tall to be exact, grasping a 12-ton sword and a shield. Honouring Soviet defenders during World War II, its Socialist Realism style is an interesting contrast to the nearby ancient golden domes of Pechers’ka Lavra. If you’re just slightly worried about the ‘Mother of the Motherland’ being a tad too top-heavy, you’re not the only one. There have been scattered reports that the whole structure was not build very soundly and is danger of falling over, but so far so good.
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Venue Info
Tickets
Admission 10Hr, 3Hr for students. 36 m view point - 50Hr, 91m view point - 200Hr.
Phone
(+380) 44 285 94 52
Website
http://www.warmuseum.kiev.uaYou may also be interested in
Check out other destinations in Ukraine
Comments
Joe Rooney
9. 2. 2026
The only other museum or cultural site in Ukraine to have such an emotional impact on me was visiting Chernobyl in the winter. The massive, Soviet-style monuments, the dark and gloomy exhibition halls and the sheer impact of WW II on Ukraine was enough to send me fleeing back into the sun light for respite. The exhitition halls are remininscent of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. and, at the least, as emotionally evocative. Don't miss the smaller Ukraine museum next door as you approach the Great Patrotic War Museum's cavernous entrance portal with its typically Soviet monumental statuary. It's not as over-whelming and every bit as informative of Ukraine's role in world events. Bring along someone who can translate for you because there are no English-speaking guides available and all the exhibits are signed in Russian/Ukrainian. Even without a translator, the meaning and impact of the exhibits is not diminished.