It had been just over a year since leaving Kyiv in June 2020, at the height of the pandemic, that the opportunity arose to return for three weeks. This opportunity was offered midway through a month in London, meaning it would involve me being away from home for nearly two months over the summer. The sense of adventure and the feeling of unfinished business led us to jump on the plane (or a couple) to go back to Kyiv. The visit coincided with the 30th anniversary of the modern founding of Ukraine, which was why in part we went. This meant that there was a buzz in the city and events organized during our stay. However, I still managed to attend a home Dynamo Kyiv game and a Shaktar Donetsk game, as the latter have moved their home games to Kyiv since we left Kyiv. The biggest change in Kyiv was the introduction of rental electric scooters dotted around the city. The introduction of the sharing economy had hit in a big away! There were five plus different companies offering scooters, using the normal scan the QR code on the handlebar process, plus numerous similar bike offerings. Whilst Kyiv was not the city I would have thought most suited to this innovation, in terms of infrastructure such as limited bike lines and rather rough and wonky pavements, it did make the city even more accessible. There were also limited geofenced zones compared to some other cities, which made navigating the city a breeze. When returning to a place I also like to ensure that I do something new, and one thing which I had never done was visit any of Stalin’s underground tunnels. These tunnels were built under the orders of Stalin, who was concerned that if Kyiv was attacked and the bridges over the Dnieper River destroyed, the Soviet army would not be able to move weaponry and troops around the city. The tunnels never got fully completed and brought into service, but their entrances can still be found on the banks of the river, and on the islands. So, with the help of the new scooters, I ventured out to hunt one of the tunnels down. Once located, the tunnel entrances themselves were rather underwhelming but considering the effort and process of their construction in that period, are interesting. Whilst the tunnels were never finished; the size and scale of the secret project highlights the ambition and fear of the time.
After a visit to Kyiv in the summer, a second opportunity arose to visit it again in the winter. The travel was last minute and involved travelling a rather unconventional flight path of Washington – Newark – Zurich – Vienna – Kyiv on Christmas Eve (and into Christmas day!) but provided the opportunity to visit Kyiv in the snow again. The first thing I noticed was the disappearance of all the scooters for the winter, which whilst making sense, highlighted another challenge of launching them in such a seasonal location. Seeing the same sights in such different conditions is always interesting, as was being in shorts in the summer and then so bundled up only 4 months later. The time of year meant that there was no football to attend and there was a need to find some warm places to stop and warm up in when exploring the city. The Kyiv Food Market was particularly nicely lit up and always has a good selection of food and drinks. During the visit, I decided to head out to the Art-Zavod Platform on the Left Bank, a short walk from the Lisova metro stop and the Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics. The area is an Arts start-up hub and like all good start-up ecosystems has a coffee roaster and the 2085 beer brewing operation, a craft brewery which has been growing in prominence within Ukraine. It is interesting to see how the entreprenurial ecosystem is growing and developing within the Ukrainian context. The area is reminiscent of the 798 district in Beijing and the repurposing of old manufacturing buildings into art studios and incubators. Whilst Kyiv is a very different experience in the bitter cold and snow, there are always interesting things to visit, and do, no matter the season.
Robin Bell 