The Ukrainian Red Army is an imprint in architecture

Residential quarter “Sotnya” and the School of Red Commanders In the place near Kholodna Gora (Cold Mountain) along the Poltava Way, there are many facilities built for the military - in Soviet times there was a military outpost. But the development of this district is probably associated with the School of Red Commanders that since May 1920 was housed in the building of the former Seminary on the modern Seminarska Street. During the interwar period and in the 1920s, this military school trained about 1,000 officers. It was a leading institution that introduced the spread of the Ukrainian language in the Soviet Army. The first practical Russian-Ukrainian dictionary for the Military was published in 1924.  And such words as starshyna (sergeant), chatovy (guard), and sotnya (сompany) came into use by Ukrainian Soviet Army soldiers.  In the spring of 1931, many school commanders were accused of counter-revolutionary conspiracy, and Ukrainization was over. Nevertheless, the school existed under the same name until 1938 or 1939, and its graduates had proved themselves during World War II, as evidenced by a memorial plaque in honor of its graduates who were awarded titles Heroes of the Soviet Union.  What buildings are connected with the School of Red Commanders? First of all, it is a new school building next to the old seminary, erected in the late 1920s and early 1930s. It has clear features of constructivism - a cross-shaped for convenience, with semicircular glass stairwells and several round windows.  The Sotnya residential dwelling indicates its belonging to a military unit by name. The pre-war quarter consisted of 2 very different parts. The first one is a 5-story residential building overlooking the Poltava way. It has clear features of modernism - balconies on the corners of the building, terraces, plaster that mimicked concrete, and belt courses over the windows, reminiscent of horizontal windows of reinforced concrete structures. The second residential dwelling with 2-3 story houses is quite different. Its architecture does not manifest itself. Only a rather bold combination of corner buildings into a single volume, which gives a folded shape to the complex, has some features of modernism. It is rather the search for style - different houses, similar in shape, have borrowings from various styles. A string course under the roof of one of them is influenced by Ukrainian folk architecture, the other building is decorated by classical elements, and another one has forging that refers to the Art Deco patterns. The corner houses are left without any decor at all. German aerial photographs of 1941 demonstrate the paths and flower beds between these houses. Unfortunately, none of this has survived. Olga Shvydenko