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14 August 2009 16:05

12 Explosives from World War II Discovered at the Children’s Hospital of the Future Land Plot

The Central Search and Rescue Squad of the MES Strategic Civil Defense Rescue Service completed the inspection of the All-Ukrainian Center to Protect Mothers' and Children's Health, a.k.a. Children’s Hospital of the Future, land plot for explosives.

During the inspection, the squad has discovered 12 explosive objects from Word War II period: 11 German ammunition items (4 AT mines, 3 mortar shells, 3 ballistic projectiles, and one AP mine), and one Soviet Army ballistic projectile.

The Foundation turned to the National Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 in Kyiv with a request for a historical note on the events, taking place on this site in World War II.

The discovered explosives date back to August-September, 1941. The second line of Kyiv defense went through Vyshhorod, Pushcha-Vodytsia, Sviatoshyn, Zhyliany, Pyrohovo, and Feofaniya. The severest fights in the Pyrohovo (Feofaniya) area took place on August 5-19, 1941, up till the fall of Kyiv. On the Soviet part, they were fought by Col. Potekhin’s Rifle Division 147, and on the German side – Infantry Division 95. On September 19, 1941, the German troops captured Kyiv.

By the historians’ estimations, the ammunition could have been stored in the warehouses set by the Germans at St. Panteleimon’s Moastery in Feofaniya. It is also known that, before the war had begun, the Soviets lodged a branch of the Kyiv mental hospital at the monastery’s dormitory. The German troops, having entered Feofaniya, killed the patients and turned the premises into a military hospital. Firing points were set on St. Panteleimon’s Cathedral’s roof and dome, which caused a bombardment of the cathedral.

During the liberation of Kyiv in 1943, there were no big operations in Feofaniya area, though the buildings had suffered considerable damage in the bombardment.

The Children’s Hospital of the Future Foundation thanks the National Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 in Kyiv’s researchers for the provided information.