second largest after the University. Eventually, the plans were cancelled at the foundation stage; these foundations were used later for the construction of the Rossiya Hotel (also by Chechulin, 1967, demolished 2006–2007). Other cities While many cities in the former USSR and former Soviet Bloc countries have Stalinist skyscrapers, few fall in the same league as the Moscow vysotki. Of these three, Hotel Ukraina in Kyiv was completed in stripped-down form, without the tower and steeple originally planned for them. Kyiv: Hotel Moscow – Hotel Ukraina Plans to build a skyscraper on the site of the destroyed Ginzburg Hotel emerged in 1948, but the design was finalized by Anatoly Dobrovolsky as late as 1954, when Stalinist architecture was already doomed. Building work proceeded slowly, with numerous political orders to make it simpler and cheaper. It was completed in 1961, without a tower, steeple and any original ornaments. Warsaw: Palace of Culture and Science, 1952–1955 Another Lev Rudnev design, with Polish Renaissance Revival detailing. Built in 1952–1955 (topped out October 1953). Construction plans were agreed upon on April 5, 1952 and sealed during Vyacheslav Molotov's visit on July 3 of the same year (after the opening ceremony on May 1). The Soviets planned it as a university, but the Polish side insisted on its current administrative function. A workforce of around 7,000 was nearly evenly split between Poles and imported Soviet laborers; 16 were presumed killed during the work. The building remained the tallest in Poland until construction of Varso Tower modern glass skyscraper constructed in Warsaw in 2021. Bucharest: House of the Free Press, 1952–1956 Construction began in 1952 and was completed in 1956. The building was named Combinatul Poligrafic Casa Scînteii "I.V.Stalin" and later Casa Scînteii (Scînteia was the name of the Romanian Communist Party's official newspaper). It was designed by the architect Horia Maicu, and was intended to house all of Bucharest's printing presses, the newsrooms and their staff. Its height is without the television antenna, which measures an additional . Prague: Hotel Družba, 1952–1954 The largest Stalinist architecture building in Prague, Czech Republic. The building was built between 1952 and 1954 at the order of Defence minister Alexej Čepička. It is 88 m high (the roof is 67 m, plus a 10 m chalice and a 1.5 m red star) and has sixteen floors. Part of the building was a fallout shelter for 600 people, currently used