Kharkiv residents outraged by 1.5 million UAH “Stonehenge”. City council says it will not pay

Despite the project's cost, its appearance leaves much to be desired, while the project description was clearly exaggerated.

Social media users are actively discussing the architectural composition that appeared in one of Kharkiv's residential districts at the end of December.

Local media and Kharkiv residents have already dubbed the sculpture the “Kharkiv Stonehenge.”

Visually, the structure at 2 and 2a Biblika Street resembles the famous Stonehenge in Britain: concrete pillars and U-shaped arches are arranged in a circle.

The “Kharkiv Stonehenge” also features ornaments and figures reminiscent of Scythian themes.

Later, the Kharkiv City Council said the project emerged through the so-called “Participatory Budget,” an initiative under which city residents can propose projects for developing their locality.

Projects that gather more votes from citizens receive funding from local authorities.

On the website of the Kharkiv City Council the architectural composition project is called “Scythian Heritage.” The authors estimated its cost at nearly 1.5 million hryvnias.

The project description says the structure “will improve the quality of life of Kharkiv residents and the city's tourist appeal.” The authors estimated the complex could attract 500,000 visitors per year.

“Undoubtedly, this will be interesting both to most residents of our city and to tourists visiting the city of Kharkiv,” the description says.

“Scythians and Sarmatians are in shock”

However, Kharkiv residents and social media users did not appreciate the structure.

“Kharkiv Stonehenge. The concrete hasn't even set, judging by the feel of it; it still seems wet. Let's hope it doesn't collapse on someone. In the center—a stone like an altar for sacrifices,” wrote user Ivan Ponomarenko.

“When I saw the photo, I screamed,” admitted Yevgeny Rudenko on Facebook.

“Scythians and Sarmatians are in shock. Not to mention the Trypillians, who had never seen concrete approvals,” wrote Viktor Kozoriz.

“One and a half million hryvnias of public budget, I'm not joking,” Natalia Zubar indignantly captioned the photo.

Yegor Loginov jokes that new Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov is trying to outdo his predecessor Hennadiy Kernes, “just as the Egyptian pharaohs tried to outdo each other.”

What the City Hall Says

One of the first to report on the new structure was the public page of the Industrialnyi District administration of Kharkiv, which called it a “unique art object” and a “bright gift to residents for the New Year 2022.”

“It takes us back to those distant antediluvian times when Hyperborea and Atlantis existed—to their traditions and culture,” the statement said. “This is a place where you can touch how and what our ancestors lived by—Scythians, Sarmatians, Trypillians.”

The post was later deleted, and the city council joined the criticism of the project.

“Of course, this structure will not be accepted in this form. Accordingly, there is no question of payment either—the mayor's position on this issue is principled. The money will not be paid to the project's implementer,” wrote Yuriy Sydorenko, director of the Department of Information and Public Communications of the Kharkiv City Council, on Facebook.

“Ihor Terekhov is convinced that in this form there is no place in Kharkiv for a ‘Bibliko Stonehenge’ or ‘Scythian Heritage,’” Sydorenko wrote.