Sukholuchye Residence is the former hunting base of the former President of Ukraine V. Yanukovych. In the past – the Dnieper-Teterevskoye state hunting estate. The once closed and well-protected site from mere mortals became accessible to tourists after 2014.

Yanukovych’s residence Sukholuchye is located in a beautiful forested area, on the shore of the Kyiv Sea (reservoir).

Where is the Sukholuchye residence located?

Sukholuchye is a village in the Vyshgorod district, in the northern part of the Kyiv region, on the shore of the Kyiv reservoir. From here it is already relatively close to Chernobyl zone. The place is quite wild (mostly swamps and forests) and sparsely populated. In the past, there was a forest departmental Dnieper-Teterevskoye farm here, where the leadership of Soviet Ukraine, in particular V. Shcherbitsky and other party leaders, loved to hunt. The area of hunting grounds here is simply huge – more than 37 thousand hectares. Here, on the territory of forests, meadows, swamps and lakes, you can find elk, deer, wild boars, beavers, foxes, martens, as well as various birds – ducks, black grouse, partridges…

On the territory of the forest park we managed to hand-feed this wild muskrat. She is used to tourists.

After 2007, V. Yanukovych, who was then the Prime Minister of Ukraine, began to settle in Sukholuchye. He fenced off part of the territory located near the water (about 30 hectares) and began to build his hunting residence there (his main house was located a little to the south, in residence Mezhygorye).

Marina and guest house. You could sail here along the Kyiv Reservoir by boat from Mezhyhirya.

How to get to Sukholuchye?

You can get to Sukholuchye from Kyiv by car. You need to leave the Obolon district in the direction of Vyshgorod, drive past Yanukovych’s residence in Mezhyhirya and drive further towards Dymer. Having passed the turn on the road to Zoo 12 months, in Dymer you will need to turn right towards Glebovka and drive towards Sukholuchye. You will pass by several good bases on the shore of the Kyiv Reservoir, in particular Glebovka country hotel and Dzhantama Breeze. Having passed the village of Sukholuchye, you need to continue driving straight along the same road, which will lead you to the checkpoint of the Dnieper-Teterevsky state hunting farm. Having passed the checkpoint and the barrier, you need another 7-8 km. drive along the road until you arrive at Yanukovych’s residence in Sukholuchye.

The distance from Kyiv is about 80 km. It’s about an hour by car. The road is good. But you can’t get here by public transport. There is, however, a regular bus that will take you from Kyiv to Sukholuchye, but then you will have to walk for more than an hour through the forest before you get to the residence itself. And there are hardly any taxis here.

The territory of the Sukholuchye residence is well-groomed. There are alleys, benches, lawns, lighting…

How much does it cost to enter the Sukholuchye residence?

The ticket price is low – 50 hryvnia per adult. For 200 UAH. per day you can camp here with a tent. There is no rush among tourists. Masha Pasha arrived at the residence on a day off at 11 am and at that time there were only a few cars here besides us. Still, the road is very long…

The fisherman’s house is located on the shore of the lake. Now there is a cafe and toilets.[/ caption]

What interesting things can you see inside?

Behind a high green fence there is a beautiful and well-groomed forested area overgrown with a dense pine forest. There are pedestrian alleys, lakes, an embankment and residential residences built by Yanukovych in the Ostrov and Akatsiya tracts.

[caption id="attachment_6377" align="alignnone" width="1500"] The small church is one of the few buildings in the residence where you can freely enter inside. Honka itself is closed to visitors.

First, you will pass by a lake, on the shore of which there is a “fisherman’s house” and fishing spots, and a beautiful wooden bridge spans the lake itself. If you go further into the park, then in the middle of the forest you will see Honka (the residence itself), as well as a small church (by the way, it is open to the public). If you go even further, you can get to a beautiful embankment along the Kyiv Sea, a yacht pier and a guest house with a gazebo for barbecue.

Guest house on the shore of the reservoir, almost like at sea. The other shore is not visible…

There is a cafe in the fisherman’s house that serves delicious shish kebab and French fries. There are also toilets there. There are many benches and gazebos on the territory where you can organize a picnic in the fresh air.

A beautiful park around Honka, the forest looks very well-groomed.

Among the animals in the residence, we met deer, roe deer, wild boars and horses (they can be seen on the approach to the fence of Yanukovych’s residence; all animals, with the exception of wild boars, are free-range). Horses also beg, but be careful with them. Deer and roe deer are quite shy, running in the distance… On the territory of the residence itself on the shore of the lake, we met a large muskrat, which ate perfectly from our hands.