Bykivnia Graves, Kyiv
The forest where the NKVD secretly buried its executed in 1937–1941 — by estimates, 30 to 35 thousand people.
Throughout 1937–1941 the Bykivnia forest was a place of secret burial for victims of mass political repression shot by the NKVD in Kyiv's prisons. By the estimate of Ukrainian historians, 30–35 thousand executed inhabitants of Kyiv and the region are buried here, along with over 3,500 foreign citizens, among them over 2,600 Polish prisoners from the "Ukrainian Katyn list"; other researchers' estimates range from 20 to 100 thousand. As of May 2025 the names of about 18,500 people have been documented. The memorial complex opened on 30 April 1994, the state reserve was created in 2001, national status followed in 2006; in 2012 the International Memorial to the Victims of Totalitarianism opened, by architects Larysa Skoryk, Roman Hlovatsky and Marek Moderau.
An open-air memorial territory on Brovarskyi Avenue; from Lisova metro station by minibus or bus towards Brovary, entry free (reserve website, date not given). Open daily: spring and summer 9:00–19:00, autumn and winter 10:00–17:00 (reserve website, date not given). Kyiv is regularly attacked — on the night of 30.09.2026 2 people were killed (Ukrinform, 30.09.2026); administration: 16 Lypska Street.