Last weekend enthusiasts from Kyiv’s highly professional World War II reenactment society gathered to fight out the second Battle for Kyiv one more time. WWII reenactment societies have blossomed since the collapse of the Soviet UNI0N, with Russia also boasting thousands of participants at regular reenactments, with painstaking care taken over such details as the correct weaponry, footwear and even cigarettes!

The first snowfall of the season brought an added touch of authenticity to this year’s reenactment, covering the battlefield in a layer of wintry snow. Participants wrapped up against the cold weather in standard issue winter uniforms, and the legendary Red Army coats once more proved more durable than their Wehrmacht equivalents! Schnapps and vodka helped keep out the chill, while kasha was on offer for famished Third Reich stormtroopers and ravished Red Army snipers. This reenactment is one of the centrepieces of the year for WWII fans, and commemorates the liberation of Ukraine’s capital. Kyiv fell to the Nazis in September 1941 and was occupied for over two years. The Red Army finally liberated the Ukrainian city on 6 November 1943 as they swept across the occupied Soviet lands on their way to final victory in Berlin. Kyiv was the biggest prize to fall to the Nazis during Hitler’s self-proclaimed ‘war of annihilation’ in the USSR and the countryside around the city was the scene of savage fighting in both 1941 and 1943. WWII, or the Great Patriotic War as the conflict is commonly known among Ukrainians, continues to exert a fascination in this part of the world where the brunt of the fighting took place. Many enthusiasts prefer to play the role of the German invader, something that would have been unthinkable in the Soviet past, but members claim that aside from having fun dressing up and playing at war the main aim of these reenactment societies is to keep the memory of the conflict alive and pass on awareness of the suffering and sacrifices made from generation to generation. Ukraine, then part of the Soviet UNI0N, was caught at the very epicentre of the fighting in WWII and lost an estimated ten million people in the conflict.