Monument to Ukraine, Eindhoven

openas of 2026-10-012026World · Ukrainian tracesNetherlands

Photo: Sander Perquin · CC BY 4.0 · source

A "Czech hedgehog" and a bench with a line by Maksym Kryvtsov; unveiled on 24 February 2026.

The monument was unveiled on 24 February 2026 — exactly four years after the start of russia's full-scale invasion — on Clausplein square in central Eindhoven. It was designed by the Ukrainian artists Sofia Bondar and Misha Mazepa: the object consists of a "Czech hedgehog", the metal anti-tank obstacle used to keep tanks out of Kyiv, and of a bench, so it refers at once to the war and to people meeting. A line by Maksym Kryvtsov, the Ukrainian poet killed in the war in 2024, is engraved on the bench. Beside it is a QR code with video and interviews with the residents of Eindhoven who took Ukrainians in. Over four years of war about 1,200 Ukrainians have settled in the city.