Sculptpedia Statues, Busts and Sculptures Park sculptures and installations Ancient World & Antiquity Middle Ages & Renaissance Marble & Other Stones Bronze & Other Metals

Legendary Tachanka

Legendary Tachanka is a monument in Kakhovka, Kherson Oblast, Ukraine, created to mark the 50th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution. It is dedicated to the battles on the Kakhovka bridgehead during the Russian Civil War and is also known as the Monument to the Tachanka, a horse-drawn machine-gun cart widely used by the Red Army cavalry. The monument was designed by sculptors L. Rodionov, Yu. Lokhovinin, and L. Mikhailyonok, together with architect E. Poltoratsky, after a cast-iron model was made in 1956. The bronze monument, weighing more than 60 tons, was assembled in Kakhovka and unveiled on 27 October 1967.

Legendary Tachanka bronze monument with four horses pulling a cart and figures, including one holding a flag.
The Legendary Tachanka monument shows a dramatic bronze horse-drawn cart scene atop a grassy hill.
August 2012 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Legendary Tachanka monument on a grassy hill under a blue sky with clouds
The Legendary Tachanka monument rises above the fields on a hilltop.
May 2019 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Legendary Tachanka monument with rearing horses and a flag-bearing figure on a green hill.
The Legendary Tachanka monument rises above a stone staircase, with visitors walking up toward the sculpture.
May 2019 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Legendary Tachanka monument rises on a grassy mound beyond green fields and sunflowers under a dramatic blue sky.
The Legendary Tachanka monument stands in the distance above fields of green plants and sunflowers.
June 2013 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Granite plaque for the Legendary Tachanka monument with engraved Cyrillic text, set into a concrete base.
A granite plaque with Cyrillic inscription at the Legendary Tachanka monument.
August 2012 © · CC BY-SA 3.0

Identification

TitleLegendary Tachanka
TypeMonument
Alternative namesTachanka Monument; original Ukrainian title: Легендарна тачанка; original German title: Legendäre Tatschanka

Historical context

CommemoratesThe battles at the Kakhovka bridgehead in 1920 and the Red Army’s victory over Wrangel’s forces in the Crimean campaign
Dedicated toThe 50th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution
Historical referenceRefers to the tachanka, a horse-drawn machine-gun cart used by the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, especially in the battles near Kakhovka

Creator

SculptorsL. Rodionov, J. Lokhovinin, and L. Mikhaylonok
ArchitectE. Poltatsky (Poltoratsky)
ConsultantS. M. Budyonny

Discovery and provenance

Transport to KakhovkaJuly–August 1967, delivered from Leningrad to Kakhovka in disassembled, numbered parts on trucks
Erected27 October 1967
PrototypeA cast-iron model made in 1956, exhibited in the museum of Kakhovka, served as the prototype for the monument
WorkshopLeningrad plant "Monument-Sculpture"
Created inLeningrad
Concept originMid-1950s

Physical characteristics

Height8 m
Length18 m
Width9 m
Weight120 tonnes total; 78 tonnes bronze; 42 tonnes supporting structures and cast-iron plates
Base and moundMounted on a granite block pedestal and an artificially raised, turfed earthen mound 10 m high, 85 m long, and 75 m wide

Materials

MaterialBronze with steel supporting structures and cast-iron plates

Appearance

DepictsA combat tachanka drawn by four horses with a three-person Red Army crew and a machine gun in combat readiness
CommanderA commander in a cap and overcoat standing upright, holding a flag in his right hand and the front seat with his left hand
Machine gunnerA Red Army soldier in a Budenovka standing at the rear, holding a rifle and looking forward
Machine gun positionPlaced on the rear seat, facing backward
Wheel treatmentThe wheels are rendered as if spinning rapidly, with spokes not visible
Artistic styleRealistic depiction of the vehicle racing across the steppe
DriverA Red Army soldier in a Budenovka leaning forward and holding the reins

Iconography and meaning

Inscription"Sons of the laboring people, you gave yourselves to the revolution! Let the sacred earth from the brotherly graves preserved here be the symbol of your immortality"
Niche contentsAmpoules containing sacred earth from Moscow, Kyiv, Sevastopol, Odesa, Leningrad, Volgograd, and the Hero Fortress of Brest

Location and ownership

Associated military unit51st Rifle Division of the Red Army
LocationKakhovka, Kherson Oblast, Ukraine
SiteOn an artificial mound in the steppe near the former command post of Vasily Blyukher and a memorial stone to him

History and restoration

Historic designationDeclared a monument of local historical significance in 1983
Damage historyRepeatedly vandalized; some metal structural parts were cut out; it tilted, rusted, and deteriorated after the collapse of the USSR when conservation funding stopped
RestorationPartially restored in 2006, when conservation funds became available again

Significance

Historical interpretationAssociated with the Soviet/Bolshevik victory over Wrangel’s forces and the Crimean campaign
Decommunization statusConsidered for removal under Ukraine’s decommunization law; in 2020 the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory reportedly requested a decision on its fate as a symbol of communism
Proposed alternative useProposed site of a museum of monumental propaganda / totalitarian monumental sculpture for decommunized monuments
Local government responseKakhovka city leadership rejected the museum proposal and did not decide the monument’s дальнейшая fate