A cross decorated with German grenades: there is an unusual grave from the First World War in the center of Kyiv. Photo

In Kyiv, at the Zvirynetske Cemetery, there is a very unusual grave of a local resident who died in 1918. The World War I-era grave features a cross in the form of connected rails, the sides of which are decorated with German grenade casings.

The photo and the story were posted on his Facebook page by Kyrylo Stepanets, a Kyiv guide. This ammunition was put into service in 1913.

"A very unusual burial has been preserved at Zvirynok. It is a grave from the First World War, probably arranged during the Hetmanate of Skoropadsky, when there was a German outpost in the capital of Ukraine," Stepanets said.

According to the guide, the grave has two crossed rails that are connected to each other and imitate an Orthodox cross. Each of its side parts is decorated with Kugelhandgranate 13 grenade casings, which were in service in Kaiser's Germany.

"Nowhere else in the cemeteries of the city (let alone the country) have I seen such an unusual design! A whole family pantheon is buried here, but the oldest grave is from 1918 when such grenades were used. An ordinary Ukrainian was buried, possibly killed in an explosion at Zvirynets in the summer of that year," Stepanets said.

It should be added that the Kugelhandgranate 13 hand-held fragmentation grenade is designed to destroy enemy manpower in both offensive and defensive combat. It was adopted by Germany on the eve of the First World War in 1913.

At the time, grenades were not considered as an element of infantry armament in this country, but as a tool for serf warfare. This was the reason why the grenades of the 1913 model were not suitable as infantry weapons, primarily because of their spherical shape, which made them inconvenient for the soldier.

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