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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
For the 35-year anniversary of Ukraine's independence, Kyivstar supported a unique project initiated by NGO Ukraine WOW in collaboration with the National Museum of the History of Ukraine. As part of the project, an international team of experts reconstructed the bell of the Desiatyn Church – one of the oldest in the country. For the first time in centuries of silence, the bell was rung in 23 August 2026 in Kyiv during a Prayer Breakfast.
In Rus' times, the bell was one of the important means of communication – it summoned a veche, announced victory, warned of danger. Since then, despite changes in technology, the essence of the connection remains unchanged – to unite people, experience, and generations.
The reconstruction work lasted three months and included several stages – from creating a highly accurate 3D model of a museum fragment to acoustic synthesis. This made it possible not only to reproduce the shape of the ancient bell but also to reconstruct its sound, as close as possible to the historical one.
Thanks to Kyivstar and Farmak for enabling the project without government funding.
"Kyivstar has provided communications for over 28 years in Ukraine, so this project concept – connecting 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 story of this bell to be seen and heard by as many people in Ukraine as possible. Therefore, the soundscape created for the project based on the song "Night, Moonlit Night" will also be available to subscribers in the Kyivstar DJing service," comments Oleksandr Komarov, CEO of Kyivstar.
Exclusively for the project, Kyivstar launched the DJing track "The Echo of the Bell," recorded with the choir "Homín" and now available for connection. In it, the song "Night, Moonlit Night" performed by the choir "Homín" resonates together with the reconstructed sound of the Desiatyn bell.
Desiatyn Church was laid at the end of the 10th century by Prince Vladimir the Great. It became the first stone church of Rus'. In the year 1240, the church was destroyed during the Mongol invasion, and the bell was lost. A fragment—for about 60% of the surface of the original—was found by archaeologist Theodosiy Movchanivskyi in 1937 during excavations at the site of Desiatyn Church.
"In spring 2026, 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: here is a genuine relic – evidence of the continuity of Ukrainian statehood. We decided to recreate not only the bell's shape but also its sound. Specialists from Ukraine, the Netherlands, Germany, and Portugal combined their knowledge, technologies, and experience to accomplish this task. Now we can not only see what the Desiatyn Church bell looked like but also hear its reconstructed sound. We are very grateful to Kyivstar and Farmak, without whose support this reconstruction would have been impossible," say Ukraine WOW co-founders Yaroslava Hres and Yuliia Solovei.
The final stage of reconstruction – casting the bell – took place at the Royal Eijsbouts foundry in the Netherlands, one of the world's leading centers of bell casting. Here bells were cast for numerous historic churches in Europe, including the famous Notre-Dame Cathedral.
From 25 August, the reconstructed Desiatyn Church bell will be visible to all at the exhibition "That Day" by the Ukraine WOW NGO team. The exhibition is presented in the exhibition space at Kyiv's Central Railway Station and will run until 4 October.
Reference about JSC Kyivstar.
JSC Kyivstar is a leading electronic communications operator in Ukraine, which as of 30 June 2026 year served about 21,8 million mobile subscribers and over 1,3 million fixed-line subscribers. The company provides services using a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 4G, Big Data, cloud solutions, cyber security services, digital television, and more. JSC Kyivstar is wholly owned by Kyivstar Group Ltd (Nasdaq: KYIV; KYIVW), whose shares are traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
The company helps Ukraine overcome wartime challenges and over the last three years has directed more than 5,1 billion UAH to support the Armed Forces, subscribers, and the implementation of social projects. JSC Kyivstar has been operating in Ukraine for 28 years and is recognized as the largest taxpayer in the electronic communications market, the best employer, and a socially responsible company.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Відновлюємо зв'язок поколінь: Київстар до 35-річчя Незалежності підтримав відтворення дзвона Десятинної церкви". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: UNIAN.
