On February 25, 2022, the second day of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian forces fired on the building of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Chernihiv, which is a historical monument of local significance. Most importantly, the building housed a KGB archive.
The building, erected in 1904, was originally designed by architect Ye. Yanovskyi for Chernihiv’s District Court. Its neoclassical façade is decorated with two pairs of pilasters of Corinthian order, ending in a horizontal attic line. In 1947, the building was partially rebuilt while preserving the architecture of the façades and interiors.

The Chernihiv Regional Department of the SBU kept a KGB archive with a significant array of documentary material: about 13,000 declassified cases against Ukrainians repressed by the Soviet regime, as well as documents of the Soviet secret service (orders, correspondence, and dossiers of the 20th century). Over half a million documents in total were declassified. However, very few were digitised.
Two missiles fired by Russian troops and the resulting fire damaged the roof and interiors of the SBU building. As a result of the fire, the archive was completely destroyed.
The site that once held memories has now turned into a memory itself.