However, in a monumental twist of history, on that very day Kyiv was bombed by the Luftwaffe as part of the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, the onset of the Great Patriotic War. The opening ceremony was not canceled, however: a sign hung on the stadium gates optimistically indicated that it was merely "postponed until after the victory". Indeed, following the 1945 Soviet Victory over Nazi Germany, not only was the stadium reconstructed, but tickets issued in 1941 were honored for admittance to an opening ceremony of the Respublikanskiy ("Republican") Stadium in 1944.