National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War

The National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War is located at Lavrska Street 24 in Kyiv, Ukraine, on a hilltop above the Dnipro River next to the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. The museum opened in 1974 as the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, as part of a Soviet memorial complex dominated by the Motherland Monument, a stainless steel statue about 62 metres tall, set on a building that is part of the museum. After Ukrainian independence the museum was reoriented towards a Ukrainian perspective on the war, and in recent years its narrative has been revised to reflect Ukraine's own experience under both Nazi German occupation and Soviet rule. The statue's shield was changed in 2023 from the Soviet hammer and sickle to the Ukrainian trident.

The museum's collection includes hundreds of thousands of items, and the permanent exhibition covers the war from the Nazi-Soviet Pact period through the German invasion of 1941, the occupation, partisan and resistance activity, the Holocaust, forced labour deportations, the liberation in 1943-44 and the post-war period. The Hall of Memory, a circular chamber under a dome, commemorates fallen soldiers and has been a central ceremonial space since the Soviet era. Outdoors, the Avenue of Military Hardware displays tanks, artillery and aircraft from the war, and a section exhibits equipment taken from the current war with Russia, including destroyed vehicles that are shown as an open-air memorial.

Curatorially, the museum has blended chronological exhibits with thematic sections. Dioramas, weapons, uniforms, photographs and personal documents are shown in large halls, and recent additions emphasise personal testimony and Ukrainian soldiers' and civilians' experience. The architecture is in a monumental late Soviet style, with large concrete volumes, and the Motherland Monument can be reached by a lift to a viewing platform at times. The museum has undergone decommunisation changes, including the removal of Soviet-era symbols, renaming and the redesign of galleries, which continue.

Visitors approach the complex from the Arsenalna metro station or the Lavra stop, and the open-air section is the most visible part. The museum is a major stop for visitors who want to understand the modern memory of the war in Ukraine, and the exhibits on the current war add a contemporary dimension. Conditions can vary with the security situation, so it is sensible to check current opening arrangements.