Kyiv regional authorities defend Zmievy Valy against developers
12 December 2024 09:42
The head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration, Ruslan Kravchenko, appealed to the prosecutor’s office over the destruction of an archaeological monument of national importance, the Velyke Khodosivske settlement, also known as the Snake Vales. Ruslan Kravchenko himself announced this on Facebook, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to him, a systematic and insidious destruction of an ancient archaeological monument of national importance, the Velykyi Khodosivske settlement (IX century BC – IV century), is taking place in the Kyiv region.
“Illegal excavation and construction works are being carried out on the territory of the monument without appropriate permits and approvals from the cultural heritage protection authorities: pits are being dug, the landscape is being destroyed. It has been recorded that in the protected zone of the monument, at a distance of about 10-15 meters from the ramparts, there are houses built in previous years. According to the plan of unscrupulous developers, they plan to build a cottage town here,” the official says.
He reminded that the Kyiv Regional State Administration and the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Kyiv Regional State Administration have repeatedly conducted a visual inspection of the ramparts and informed the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Culture. And in May of this year, the Department of Culture and Tourism additionally appealed to the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office with a report of damage to the monument.
The Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of the regional administration also sent materials regarding the construction on the territory of the monument to the State Inspectorate of Architecture and Urban Planning of Ukraine for action within its authority.
The head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration, Ruslan Kravchenko, said that in order to stop the destruction of the Velyke Khodosivske settlement and identify those involved in the destruction of the monument, he personally filed a criminal complaint with the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office the day before. Law enforcement officials are to investigate the situation and bring all those responsible to justice as part of the criminal proceedings.
What else is the “Great Khodosiv” settlement known for?
The settlement is located in Obukhiv district, Kyiv region, near the village of Ivankovychi. “The Great Khodosiv settlement is one of the three giant settlements of the Ukrainian forest-steppe. The settlement is about 3500 years old.
It is an archaeological monument of national importance, dating back to the Early Iron Age. The hillfort’s rampart is shaped like a horseshoe, measuring 4.5 by 3.0 km, 10-12 km long, and up to 8 m high. In some places, a ditch is still visible beneath it, which has been filled in by the earth. The area surrounded by the rampart is about 1-2 thousand hectares. In the times of Kyivan Rus, the rampart was built into the system of the last line of defense before Kyiv.
Scythologists emphasize that in terms of the size of the territory, the settlement ranks second among the fortified sites of the Early Iron Age, second only to Bilske, and much larger than even such unique sites as Trakhtemyrivske and Zhurzhynetske. Among the features of the monument is a discontinuous line of defense with fortifications only in the naturally unprotected area, in contrast to Motronynske, Pastyrske, and Sharpivske settlements, where the defense system covers the entire territory.
The ramparts of the hillfort are home to a Red Book plant, the hairy feather grass.
