As you journey into Kyiv from the airport, at some point this giant statue of a female warrior will loom up on the horizon and make you wonder, 'What the hell is that?' Well, it's the Motherland Monument. Inaugurated by Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in 1981, it was the second and last Nation's Mother monument erected in the USSR. Today it houses the excellent National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War in its base, and has a pair of viewing platforms.
The top platform is all the way up at the top of her shield at 91m, but it's subject to weather-related closures and long lines, as the elevator can only accommodate two visitors at at time. There's a lower platform at 36.6m, served by a separate, larger elevator.
Although initially designed by the same artist as the iconic Motherland Calls statue in Volgograd, this version completely lacked its sister's appeal and became a subject of ridicule, especially when the communist authorities reduced the size of the sword so that it doesn't rise over the cupolas of Kyevo-Pecherska Lavra. Even if you don't like such Soviet pomposity, don't say too much; you'd be taking on a titanium woman carrying 12 tonnes of shield and sword.
The grounds around Rodina Mat are popular for strolling and contain a number of intriguing relics of the communist era, including an eternal flame in memory of WWII victims; various old tanks, helicopters and anti-aircraft guns; and a veritable garden of Soviet realist sculpture in and around the underpass leading towards the Lavra.
The Motherland Monument is an easy stroll from the Lavra, or take bus 24 or trolleybus 38 from the stop opposite Arsenalna metro.