"Ukraine - Mother" stamp for Independence Day on August 24
General Director of the joint-stock company "Ukrposhta" Ihor Smilyansky announced the release of the "Ukraine - Mother" stamp for Independence Day on August 24.
Postal cancellation will take place on Independence Day, we expect replenishment of exclusive canceled envelopes in Postal Ukraine
About the creation of the "Motherland" sculpture.
The creation of a grandiose monument was planned for the 1500th anniversary of the city of Kyiv: the sculpture was supposed to emphasize the scale and invincibility of Soviet achievements.
The first "Motherland" project was proposed by the sculptor Yevhenii Vuchetych back in the 1970s. He created the Motherland based on the image of the artist Nina Danyleyko.
There is a legend that the Metropolitan of Kyiv appealed to the authors of the monument with a request: he asked to make the statue lower than the High Lavra bell tower. For example, if the sword rises above the cross, then the symbol of war will prevail over the symbol of humility - and in the future this will lead to war. The sculpture was made smaller: the sword is 12 meters lower than the bell tower near the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.
We know the sculpture precisely because of the warrior image of a woman holding a shield and a sword - but it could not be. The monument could have other details: a laurel wreath, a chalice and even a baby. Initially, it was planned that the "Motherland" would put her sword and shield forward in a belligerent manner, but in the end it was agreed that she would hold her hands up to the mountain - thus demonstrating triumph.
"Motherland" consists of three layers: the main frame (more than 280 tons), the auxiliary frame with cladding (108 tons), cladding made of one and a half millimeter stainless steel (90 tons).
The sculpture has a height of 102 meters (40 m - the pedestal and 62 m - the monument itself), its weight is approximately 500 tons. The size of the shield is 12x8 m, and the length of the sword is 16 meters (on its point there is a special device that dampens fluctuations in the wind load). During the installation of the sculpture, approximately 30 kilometers of welding seams were laid.
The creators of "Motherland" have thought it out in such a way that in the event of a nine-year earthquake, it will still withstand.
In July 2023, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy made a decision: instead of the Soviet coat of arms, a Ukrainian trident would be installed on the Motherland monument.
The sculpture is one of the most famous monuments of Soviet Kyiv. It is part of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War.
In 2017, the statue entered the Book of Records of Ukraine in the category "Highest 3D mapping on a monumental sculpture". And as part of the Eurovision 2017 international song contest, a light show took place: the monument was dressed up in 14 national costumes.
Talks about how to decolonize and de-Russify the monument arose from the beginning of the war. In November 2021, a petition was even registered on the website of the Kyiv City Council with a proposal to transform the monument into a statue of Archangel Michael. The author of the petition was convinced that the Soviet monument contradicts the ideological and political course of modern Ukraine. However, they decided to hold a vote to replace the Soviet symbols on the sculpture. During the voting in the Kyiv Digital app, they decided to replace the hammer and sickle with a trident.
In the summer of 2023, the world-famous monument was given a new life and finally replaced the outdated Soviet symbol with the Trident. In addition, the monument was renamed "Mother Ukraine".
"If we put together all the puzzles, we will see a picture of a completely new life of the monument, based on the facts that are decisive for me: it was created in Ukraine, created by the efforts of Ukrainian workers, engineers, and scientists. It is a unique monument of science and technology. This the monument is getting a second life today. Why now? Because right now, during a full-scale invasion, this monument for the people of Kyiv, for Ukrainians living in Kyiv, in Ukraine, fighting the enemy, this monument began to take on a different meaning. It is a symbol stability and indomitability of the Ukrainian people. We know the fact, which is based on the legend, that the "Motherland" faces the Northeast. And it is from the Northeast enemy that it protects our land, our people. So we can emphasize this as well," says Yurii Savchuk, general director of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War.