An incredible story of how community activists raised UAH 3 million to restore an ancient wooden Cossack manor, setting a precedent with this process. The manor is now considered by local and regional authorities as a potential tourist attraction and a showcase for the entire Chernihiv region

By Dmytro Syniak

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On the southern outskirts of Kozelets, a settlement in the Chernihiv region, stands a large, old, one-storey house on a low terrace on the right bank of the Oster River. At first glance, there is nothing particularly notable about it, but upon closer observation, its unusual features become apparent. Firstly, it is enormous, with ceilings up to four metres high, as well as equally imposing windows and doors. Secondly, every part of it, including the curved columns, is made of wood. This house was once a Cossack manor and the ancestral home of the Darahans. It is closely associated with the Rozumovskyis and the Halahans. It showcases how the Ukrainian elite envisioned luxury almost 300 years ago.

Although the manor of Pokorshchyna miraculously survived the devastation of World War II and the even more destructive Soviet era for Ukrainian historical heritage, it has reached our times ‘barely alive’. Despite its undeniable historical, cultural and architectural value, no money has been found for the manor’s restoration in the 35 years since Ukraine gained independence.

The team behind the ‘Real History’ project[i], along with journalist Akim Halimov, managed not only to save the building from destruction, but also to find a way to preserve thousands of similar sites. In response to Akim’s inspiring calls to action, viewers of his YouTube channel achieved the seemingly impossible — they raised UAH 3 million for emergency repairs. This proved that the building is important to people and forced local and regional authorities to reconsider it.

 

The ancestral home of the famous Cossack families of the Rozumovskyis, Darahans, and Halahans, which was once perhaps the most important in Kozelets, now looks like this

 

Akim Halimov (left), founder of the ‘Real History’ project, and Serhii Morhunenko, director of the Blyskavka Charitable Foundation, which receives funds for the restoration of the historic Cossack manor

 

A tale about how Russian Empress Elizabeth ‘subdued’ to her Ukrainian mother-in-law in the Chernihiv region

 

Many Ukrainian villages have tales of how someone from the royal family once visited and renamed them due to an often absurd incident. In the village of Kobizhcha in the Chernihiv region, for example, there is a story about Empress Catherine II, who stopped there during her trip south and refused borscht, saying, ‘If only I had shchi (Russian cabbage soup)...’ In the Poltava region, it is said that the name of the Vorskla River comes from a phrase uttered by Peter I when a piece of glass from his spyglass fell into the water. The tsar then allegedly exclaimed, ‘This is not a river, but a vor skla (a thief of glass)!’ In reality, these stories bear no relation to the truth and only serve to perpetuate the sense of inferiority that Ukrainians have experienced for centuries. After all, it seems that Ukrainians had nothing to boast about until the ‘sovereign emperor’ appeared.

Nevertheless, the legend recounted in Kozelets about Pokorshchyna is worth retelling. After all, the story is not just about the usual belittling of all things Ukrainian; it also conveys the idea that a Ukrainian woman is spiritually superior to the empress, who was obliged to bow her head before this woman.

The fact is that Oleksii Rozum, a Ukrainian singer in the Russian Imperial Church choir from the village of Lemeshiv near Kozelets, later became the all-powerful Count Rozumovskyi and the official husband of Empress Elizabeth I. However, Russian historical sources try to downplay his importance, referring to him as a favourite and the ‘night emperor’, although they do admit that Elizabeth probably secretly married Oleksii under pressure from the Church and part of the court elite who were interested in strengthening Rozumovskyi’s power.

Thus, the mother-in-law of the Russian empress was Nataliia Rozumykha, the Ukrainian innkeeper and daughter of Demian Lemeshko, a registered Cossack. During a trip to Ukraine organised by Oleksii Rozumovskyi in 1744, Elizabeth visited her at her wooden manor on the outskirts of Kozelets. According to local residents, Rozumykha’s manor has been called Pokorshchyna ever since, as it was there that the empress ‘subdued’ herself to her Ukrainian mother-in-law by bowing her head before her.

In fact, the name of the manor originates from the surname of Ivan Pokorskyi, a regimental clerk who managed the manor and its surrounding land. The house was owned by the Darahan family. In the second half of the 18th century, Kyiv Colonel Yukhym Darahan bought this manor from his mother-in-law Nataliia Rozumykha after marrying Vira, her youngest daughter.

Nowadays, Pokorshchyna is the oldest of the preserved manor complexes in Left-Bank Ukraine.

 

Cossack manor on the banks of the Oster River

 

In 1975, the manor house was still in good enough condition to host several scenes from the film Star of Captivating Happiness, directed by Volodymyr Motyl and based on the lives of the Decembrists and their wives. However, the building began to fall into disrepair in the 1980s. The Soviet authorities, indifferent to the history of Ukrainian statehood, took no action. Consequently, one of the wings collapsed, and local residents, in their own way reacting to the authorities’ indifference, gradually took over the park around the manor. Garages, sheds, and vegetable gardens thus appeared next to the Darahan family home. In the 1990s, some owners managed to obtain privatisation documents for 1.5 hectares of the 3-hectare protected area by hook or by crook. Local activists sounded the alarm, of course, but no one listened to them.

In 2009, Volodymyr Nediak – the founder and CEO of the private museum Cossack Lands of Ukraine – attempted to save the manor by requesting that the Chernihiv Regional Council lease the building to him for 49 years. However, he demanded that the regional council clear the park of illegal buildings. This led to scandals, lawsuits, and unclear compensation amounts for the alienation of ‘legally privatised’ property. No one wanted to take on the case. Mr Nediak eventually backed down.

The next attempt to save the manor was made in 2017. At that time, experts from the Chernihiv Regional Administration estimated that the cost of restoring Pokorshchyna would be around UAH 16 million. However, they also announced that the probable lifespan of the manor without restoration was no more than five years. In May 2020, this prompted the Chernihiv Regional Council to allocate UAH 3.8 million from the regional budget to save the manor house as part of the Programme for the Restoration of Architectural Monuments of National Importance in the Chernihiv Region for 2020–2022. A further UAH 12 million was to be allocated to the programme from other sources.

However, the programme was never fully funded and the famous Cossack manor house received no funding at all. Road repairs, the purchase of public transport, the organisation of various concerts, the development of central squares, and the construction of street lighting systems... As usual, the authorities did not get around to restoring historical and cultural monuments. The old manor house continued to fall into ruin. This process was accelerated by local homeless people, who effectively turned the remarkable historical building into a makeshift public toilet and night shelter.

When Akim Halimov, the founder of the ‘Real History’ project, first arrived, he was struck by the manor’s pitiful state and its special grandeur, which could still be seen through its time-ravaged walls. He subsequently filmed several stories about Pokorshchyna and, in early 2024, returned to Kozelets to tell the story of this unusual manor in an episode about Hrehor Rozumovskyi, the direct descendant of the last Ukrainian hetman who now lives in Austria.

‘I cannot explain in detail what happened then,’ Akim Halimov tells Decentralisation. ‘It was February, and against the backdrop of grey, cold weather, the manor looked particularly pitiful. Its state of disrepair also contrasted with the vivid story recounted by a local historian. I could see that the manor was unique. Constructed in a classical style, this building reflected the Cossack leaders’ desire to live ‘like in the capitals’, but in their own way – as authentically as possible. Then something clicked inside me and I said, ‘We have to do something to save this manor…’

 

 The Cossack manor is located on the banks of the picturesque Oster River with its extraordinary landscapes

 

Akim Halimov, founder of the ‘Real History’ project, listens to a local historian talking about the history of the Darahan manor. Still from the film ‘What is the descendant of Ukraine’s last hetman hiding?’

 

Main entrance to the manor house

 

Restoration or drones?

 

Akim conveyed his passionate desire to viewers of his channel and other concerned Ukrainians, who sent more than UAH 3 million from all over the world to save the manor. Funds even came from Ukrainians living in China. In wartime, when literally every spare hryvnia is spent on purchasing drones, this success seemed like a complete miracle.

‘The entire ‘Real History’ project team and I are aware that, heaven forbid, if the Russians come to Kozelets, there will be nothing left to save,’ Akim Halimov explains, as he introduces this unusual fundraising campaign. ‘We discussed for a long time whether we had the moral right to raise funds for the restoration of the Cossack manor when there is a critical shortage of funds on the front. We even conducted a survey among our social media followers. More than 80 per cent of respondents supported the idea of fundraising. This became a key guideline for us. We have a historical project, and Pokorshchyna is not only part of Ukrainian history, but also of Ukrainian identity. It also provides living proof that Ukrainians had their own educated, wealthy, and influential elite in the 18th century. As for fundraising for the army... We are constantly raising funds for it. We have just closed a fundraising campaign for UAH 1.8 million for the aerial reconnaissance units of the Special Operations Forces. However, we are currently allocating 90 per cent of our available funds to the military and only 10 per cent to the restoration of Pokorshchyna. If we allow this manor to fall into ruin, how will we be able to explain to our children and grandchildren what we fought for?’

Gradually, Akim Halimov succeeded in uniting many different people and organisations in the fight to save Pokorshchyna. In particular, concerned Ukrainians are transferring money to the account of the Blyskavka Charitable Foundation, whose director, Serhii Morhunenko, is organising the construction work. Professional architects and restorers Serhii Yurchenko and Ivan Bykov are supervising this work, and Akim met them through Hanna Bondar, an architect and Member of Parliament who is also providing significant assistance to the project team.

As usual, they started with a series of clean-ups, which many local activists and the ‘Brave to Rebuild’ charitable organisation joined. Impressed by their success, the Kozelets settlement council provided the team with municipal equipment and tools, as well as several of its own employees. Following three major clean-ups, over 10 tonnes of various types of rubbish had been removed from the manor.

Later, the most urgent emergency repairs began, including the complete replacement of the roof, which had not been repaired for a century! However, the buildings belonging to the Cossack manor were found to be in much worse condition than initially assessed, resulting in an increased estimate of UAH 7 million.

‘Old buildings often give us unpleasant surprises,’ admits Akim Halimov. ‘For example, we estimate that 10 metres of a ruined wall need to be restored, but when the builders start work, the wall starts to crumble, they find that other areas are damaged too, so in the end, 35 metres need to be restored. This means that the estimate keeps growing, and the flow of donations, which was significant in the first months after our ‘Real History’ episode about Hrehor Rozumovskyi was released, has decreased.’

Another issue that complicated the restoration of Pokorshchyna was its ownership and status. Although this monument of national importance is located in the Kozelets community, the Chernihiv Regional Council owns the manor. Consequently, the community is prohibited by law from spending funds on its repair.

Logically, the historic manor house should be transferred to the Kozelets community, which will benefit most from its future transformation into a tourist attraction. In a comment to Decentralisation, Serhii Svyrydov, Deputy Head of the Municipal Property Management Department of the Chernihiv Regional Council, stated that the regional council would not object to the transfer. However, there is one problem… In compliance with the law, the regional prosecutor’s office regularly sends orders to the regional council demanding that it ‘restore the monument of national importance to its proper condition’. The regional council consistently responds by stating that it lacks the necessary funds, thereby concluding its communication with the prosecutor’s office. However, the prosecutor’s office is likely to have a different conversation with the Kozelets community.

Its 2025 budget (which was adopted with a three-month deficit) amounts to UAH 199 million, of which UAH 151 million is its own revenue. Should the community take Pokorshchyna for itself, the leadership could face fines and even criminal liability for ‘official negligence’.

‘We are currently allocating all available funds to the army, and we believe this is the only correct policy,’ said Serhii Velykohatnyi, Secretary of the Kozelets Settlement Council, in a comment to Decentralisation. ‘If we do not defend Ukraine now, we will lose not only Pokorshchyna, but also St. Sophia’s Cathedral in Kyiv. Besides, our community is not very wealthy. We have neither oil wells nor gas fields. We have 18,500 residents and 19 starosta districts per 1 settlement and 53 villages. There are only seven hub schools across 533 square kilometres of territory. We urgently need three more school buses, which together would cost around UAH 10 million. With all due respect to Akim Halimov’s initiative, I would rather buy one of these buses or drones for our defenders than spend UAH 3 million restoring Pokorshchyna.’

 

During the clean-up, 10 tonnes of rubbish were removed from the Darahan manor

 Mansion of the manor complex

Renovation of the roof of a mansion

Wood – the main material from which the manor house is built. And the most problematic material for restorers

 

A unique example of a truly comprehensive partnership

 

At the same time, Mr Velykokhatnyi has not refused to provide assistance, ‘as long as it does not require significant financial resources.’ The community is tentatively willing to take the old Cossack manor house onto its balance sheet under the mentioned above conditions. However, only if this will not raise objections from the prosecutor’s office. Serhii Velykokhatnyi also says that the Kozelets Settlement Council is ready to consider proposals for co-financing the project with partners such as the regional administration, the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications, international institutions, and the public.

Akim Halimov is convinced that Pokorshchyna can easily be self-sufficient and therefore ‘will not require financial resources’ from the community. Moreover, it has the potential to greatly enrich the community. The key is to do everything right and attract investment.

‘I am well aware that any building will only remain intact if it is used,’ Akim says. ‘But carrying out emergency repairs is one thing, and restoring the manor house to a usable condition is quite another. That would cost tens of millions of hryvnias.’

Akim has plenty of ideas. Some of these were suggested by architects from across Ukraine, who came together for a workshop in Kozelets organised by the ‘Real History’. The most interesting suggestion was to establish a Museum of Ukrainian Women in the former Cossack residence of Nataliia Rozumykha. It was also proposed that a space be created for various conferences, seminars, meetings, and even wedding ceremonies. A restaurant or café could be built next to the manor house where tourists could stop for refreshments. For those who want to spend the night in Kozelets, small guest houses could be built near the manor house. Each house could be designed to represent a different family, such as the Rozumovskyi house, the Halahan house, or the Darahan house.

Akim is certain that there will be many tourists.

‘Even now, hundreds of tourists come to Kozelets every year to see the ruins of Pokorshchyna,’ he says. ‘And if there is an interesting museum here, an unusual cultural space where interesting artistic events are held regularly, and if the completely renovated manor is transformed into a kind of historical and tourist hub, the number of tourists will increase at least tenfold!’

Following European experience in maintaining similar monuments, Akim intends to set up a public organisation to take over the management of the Cossack manor in the future. This organisation would be set up using a public-private partnership scheme, primarily with the Chernihiv Regional Military Administration.

‘Until 2010, we had a state programme for the restoration of monuments, under which a lot was achieved in the region,’ says Serhii Kurenia, Head of the Urban Planning and Architecture Department of the Chernihiv Military Regional State Administration. ‘But now there is no such programme, and due to the war, the regional budget has fallen sharply. Much of the budget is being spent on supporting our military, repairing homes damaged by Russian shelling and building bomb shelters. Nevertheless, I hope that the regional budget will include funds for the restoration of Pokorshchyna next year.’

Serhii Kurenia also notes that the regional military administration is ready for ‘communication and joint efforts’ to free the territory of the Cossack manor from illegal buildings. Currently, however, only the regional council, as administrator of the territory, has the right to initiate this process.

‘In any case, my department, which is responsible for the protection of cultural heritage, will definitely participate in this process,’ continues Serhii Kurenia. ‘But first, we need to save the building. There are 310 monuments in total in the Chernihiv region, many of which are in poor condition due to Russian rockets and shells. We must therefore ensure that our efforts will not be in vain and that the manor house will not be destroyed while we are busy in court.’

Serhii Kurenia also says that the Chernihiv Regional Administration ‘has already begun working to find funds’, including from abroad. The administration gained valuable experience in saving an old cinema in the centre of Chernihiv that had been destroyed by Russian shelling. The French company Egis provided funding for emergency repairs and conservation work on the site. This task has been made easier by the fact that international donor organisations have already taken an interest in Pokorshchyna thanks to the ‘Real History’ project. For example, UNESCO recently offered to create a 3D scan of the manor house.

The regional military administration is also ready to negotiate with the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine regarding the allocation of funds for the restoration of the famous Cossack manor.

‘It is quite possible that part of the money for this project will come from the state, part from the regional administration and part from international donors,’ says Mr Kurenia. ‘If the community and civil society activists contribute their own funds, it will be even easier to raise the necessary amount. This will set a unique example of a truly comprehensive partnership.’

 

During the Pokorshchyna architectural workshop

 

Almost every community has its own pokorshchyna...

 

‘We have long needed to change our approach to our historical monuments,’ says Akim Halimov. ‘The state will never have enough money to maintain all historical and cultural monuments. Even in developed countries, this is not the practice. At the very least, problematic monuments should be handed over to various foundations and public organisations, and the state should simply ensure that they do not cause any damage to these monuments. That is all. These foundations should be allowed to manage the monuments, earn money to pay their employees’ salaries and fund current and capital repairs. Then these monuments will remain intact. Unfortunately, the state cannot effectively manage all its monuments.’

Akim Halimov continues, saying that the local authorities should not view sites such as Pokorshchyna as an ongoing problem that will constantly drain funds from the local budget. Instead, they should view them as a tremendous opportunity to earn significant revenue. This is not just a matter of creating a few jobs and collecting local taxes from a museum, hotel, or restaurant. We are talking about achieving pan-European fame, which could attract patrons, international donor organisations, and investors to the community.

‘You just have to believe that change is possible, and understand that it is in the hands of every local resident and community,’ says Akim Halimov.

If the Pokorshchyna experience is successful, he intends to replicate it at other Ukrainian historical sites. To this end, the public organisation that he is planning to set up will take responsibility for the sites and seek funding for their restoration. It will also act as a moderator between all interested parties.

Continuing his work as a moderator in Kozelets, Akim plans to organise the first public event in Pokorshchyna in September 2025: an evening of music dedicated to the Rozumovskyi family. His reasoning is simple: if he can draw the attention of Ukrainians to the renowned Cossack manor, finding funding will be much easier.

‘Almost every community has its own pokorshchyna,’ says Akim Halimov. ‘Local residents tell legends about it, but in reality, they treat it like a ‘lord’s house’, taking a few bricks from it for their farms. Local activists and representatives of the local authorities look at the ruins sadly, but they only say one thing: ‘What can we do?’ I want to prove that something can always be done, even in such difficult times as these. Just keep trying!’