I visited Kharkiv in 2021, six months before the start of the... disaster.

At that time, I was not yet part of the UNESCO enthusiast community, so I had no idea that I was next to a nominee for inclusion in the World Heritage Site. But even then, I was impressed by the massiveness and grandeur of the building - a very unusual architecture for Kharkiv.

Outside, there is also a large fountain built into the sidewalk. In the hot summer of 2021, you could meet children and their parents there every day, who were cooling off in powerful jets of the fountain in their bathing suits. I was no exception.

Unfortunately, I have not been inside Derzhprom, but I hope to fix this someday. I also hope that the building will survive until the end of the war. A few weeks ago, it was already damaged by shelling.