Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
To 35-year independence of Ukraine, Kyivstar joined the cultural project of the NGO Ukraine WOW, implemented in cooperation with the National Museum of the History of Ukraine. As part of the initiative, an international team of specialists recreated the bell of the Desiatynna Church — one of the oldest bells on Ukrainian territory.
For the first time in many centuries, its reconstructed sound rang out 23 in August 2026 in Kyiv during a Prayer Breakfast.
In Kievan Rus era, bells played an important role in society: they summoned people to veche, announced victories, and warned of danger. Today communication technologies have changed, but the idea of connection remains relevant — to unite people, share experience, and connect different generations.
The reconstruction lasted three months. During this time, specialists completed several stages — from creating an exact 3D model of a fragment of the original bell, which is kept in the museum, to acoustic synthesis of its sound. This allowed recreating not only the outward appearance of the historic artifact but also a sound as close as possible to how the ancient bell might have sounded.
The project was realized without state funding, with support from Kyivstar and Farmak.
Kyivstar has provided communications in Ukraine for 28 years, so the idea of this project — a connection between people, time, and generations — resonates with us. It is important for us to support initiatives that help preserve Ukrainian cultural heritage while also presenting it in a new way. We want the history of this bell to be visible not only but heard by as many people in Ukraine as possible. Therefore, the sound arrangement created for the project based on the song "Nych yaka misyachna" will also be available to subscribers in Kyivstar’s D-Jingle service,
— comments Oleksandr Komarov, CEO of Kyivstar.
As part of the project, Kyivstar also launched an exclusive D-Jingle "Homin zvona" recorded with the participation of the choir "Homin". In the composition, the sound of the song "Nych yaka misyachna" performed by the choir blends with the reconstructed sound of the Desiatynna Church bell. The D-Jingle is already available for subscribers to connect.
The Desiatynna Church was founded at the end of the 10th century by Prince Vladimir the Great. The temple became the first stone church of Rus'. In 1240 year, it was destroyed during the Mongol invasion, and the bell was lost. A fragment of the bell, comprising about 60% of the original surface, was discovered by archaeologist Teodosiy Movchanivskyi in 1937 year during excavations at the site of the Desiatynna Church.
"In the spring of 2026 year we saw a fragment of the bell in the collection of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine. When we learned more about its history, we understood: we are looking at a real relic — evidence of the continuity of Ukrainian statehood. We decided to recreate not only the form of the bell but also its sound. Experts from Ukraine, the Netherlands, Germany, and Portugal united their knowledge, technologies, and experience to accomplish this task. Now we can not only see what the Desiatynna Church bell looked like but also hear its reconstructed sound. We are very grateful to Kyivstar and Farmak, without the support of which this reconstruction would have been impossible," say Ukraine WOW co-founders Yaryna Hres and Yulia Solovei.
The final stage of reconstruction was the casting of the bell at Royal Eijsbouts in the Netherlands — one of the world’s leading centers of bell casting. At this foundry bells have been produced for historic churches in Europe and the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
From 25 August the reconstructed Desiatynna Church bell is available for viewing at the exhibition "That Day," organized by the Ukraine WOW NGO team. The exhibition is housed in the exhibition space at Kyiv’s Central Railway Station and will run until 4 October.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Київстар підтримав відтворення дзвона Десятинної церкви до 35-річчя Незалежності України". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Channel 24.
