The historic building of the Kharkiv Court of Appeal has been destroyed. After the victory, we will restore it!

Yesterday, March 6, 2022, at about 19:20, two powerful explosions occurred near the building of the Kharkiv Court of Appeal, which caused significant damage to the structure. The blast completely shattered the windows, significantly damaged the interior rooms, burned the roof.

"The building is completely without windows and doors. The roof was also on fire, we still cannot quite understand the consequences of the fire. We were lucky that the floor slabs withstood," said Olena Hrosheva, President of the Kharkiv Court of Appeal.

She said that before the destruction, the renovation of the historic building which had lasted for several years and was costly and required considerable material investment, was nearly complete. During the restoration works, the original architecture of the building was preserved, as well as the colour scheme of the premises.

Olena Hrosheva also pointed out that the building had already been destroyed during World War II - the right wing of the main façade had been completely destroyed, after which it was restored. “We have just renovated the building. But that’s all right, we will repair it again after our victory. The main thing is for everyone to be safe and sound,” said the President of the Kharkiv Court of Appeal.

For reference. In 1899-1902, according to the project of the academician of architecture O. M. Beketov with the participation of architects Y. S. Tsaune and V. B. Khrustaliov, the House of Judicial Institutions was built on Skobelivska Square, which at that time became the largest building in Kharkiv in terms of a usable area of ​​1,570 sazhens. There were 107 rooms on three floors.

The treasury spent over 650,000 roubles on the construction, together with equipment and furnishings. The grand opening of the House of Judicial Institutions and its consecration took place on November 30, 1903. After the October Revolution in 1917 the building was used by the military authorities and many prominent military officers of the Soviet period served there.

In the 1920s, according to the design of O. M. Beketov, the wings of the building were extended to form a third courtyard with a passageway into it. During World War II, the building suffered considerable damage and the right wing of the main façade was razed to the ground.

In 1946, O. M. Kasianov, chief architect of Kharkiv, and V. M. Orekhov, chief architect of the Kharkiv region, ordered that the building be restored, which involved a significant addition in the central part and the installation of a high stainless steel spire. But in the end, common sense prevailed, and the restoration project by P. Y. Shpara and D. R. Torubarov won on a competitive basis; it did not contain an inappropriate superstructure with a spire, and preserved the author's ideas on the volume-spatial composition and decorative finish of the exterior and interiors at most.

The restoration was successfully carried out in 1946-1954. In the post-Soviet period, the House of Judicial Institutions began to be used for its original purpose - it housed the Court of Appeal of Kharkiv region, which was later renamed into the Kharkiv Court of Appeal.

You can find out more about the history of the building by this link - https://hra.court.gov.ua/sud4818/info_sud/history/.