It appears to be coexisting as two cities, back to back, or I should say they stand side by side in mirror image; they are identical, just the same but not quite. One is spelled Kyiv while the other is spelled Kiev, and yet, both sound the same when they are pronounced.  The former represents the capital of a Republic State named "Ukraine", founded only a decade ago as an independent nation - first time in its history.  The latter merely signifies a regional capital city, though the third largest of all among the union known as "Soviet Union" - that, no longer exists, at least for the time being.

Their difference, if one can perceive such a difference, can be found by the  time the cities existed - the "past" and "future" and only time will cure its disparate image with the power of mother nature.  To me, however, the contradiction I see may be temporary. The city is in a transition, a transition that  will last for some time or,  from this time on, the image will become the city's characteristics.

There once was a city called "the mother city for all Eastern Slavic peoples."  The state was known as "Kyivan Rus", from which neighboring Russia and Belarus were descended. Between the 9th and 11th centuries there founded a forest of Russian Orthodox statues and cathedrals in the city - all of which would represent the Slavic art and architectures.  Then the repeated waves of invasion by the neighboring states burned down and destroyed that city, leaving the forest of the "the Russian Orthodox statues and cathedrals like skeletons" in a grave yard of "Slavic art and architecture."  

Under communist urban planning, the Bolsheviks completely disregarded and ignored the landscaping of the city and consequently destroyed the view of city. The devastation left by the purging of anything bourgeois is as bad as the massive destruction of WWII by Nazi Germany.  The most beautiful sight of the city I found was the view I saw from the airplane some thousands of feet above.  I do not think it was because the cracks of structures and  the fading paint and tiles were not visible from that distance but because of the spectacular panoramic view of the wide, blue River Dnipro, the green hills of dark forest and the golden yellow domes of cathedrals.

New urban planning has begun as  hundreds of cranes stand and move creating another forest of construction machineries. I feel there will be renovation in time.  However, the view is likely to remain the same since much of the renovation is on the interiors of existing structures rather than demolishing the old and constructing new buildings.  The Soviet-built residential sections are still intact where people's lives are restricted within its old environment.  Their effort to develop electronic and computerized technology are impressive and are contributing to build their economy.  Yet the public utilities and facilities including transportation, such as the subway, seem to rely upon the old structures. Therefore it may take some time before the public benefits from what we perceive as givens of an urban city life -  safety, security and sanitation.

Norimi and Heidi