By Olga Poliukhovych and Alisa Demina
Peer Reviewed By REAL Members
We are grateful to our colleagues from the Refugee Educational Advancement Laboratory at the George Washington University for inviting us to share the current state of Ukrainian universities under ongoing attack by Russian forces over the past two years and 10 months. It is paradoxical and ironic that as we are filing this essay in December of 2024, yet new waves of blackouts continue throughout the country and provide new evidence of the unending assault on our educational institutions.
In September alone, the month when the academic year begins in Ukrainian schools and universities, Russia attacked the buildings of Sumy State University1, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University2, and The Heroes of Kruty Military Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology in Poltava3.
In the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine on February 24th 2024, numerous schools, libraries, museums, and universities have been damaged or completely destroyed. In the third year of the full-scale war, it has become abundantly clear that Russia’s aim is to completely destroy Ukraine and its future. To accomplish that goal, universities have become prime targets not only as physical buildings but also and perhaps most importantly as manifestations of intellectual and critical thinking.
In addition to every-day challenges such as interrupted distance education, air alerts, student mobility, blackouts, financial issues, and stressful conditions for students, academic and administrative staff, the Ukrainian system of higher education as a whole has encountered new challenges, which we elaborate upon below. Nevertheless and, despite such complex circumstances, Ukrainian universities have not stopped their work.
Since the war began in 2014 by Russia’s occupation of parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, 19 universities from these regions have been displaced4. The story has repeated itself – since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, nine more institutions have been added to the list of displaced Ukrainian universities5.
Responding to the challenges caused by Russia’s unprovoked invasion, Ukraine has developed policies aimed at integrating displaced universities to allow students from the temporarily occupied territories to complete their studies and to obtain diplomas from Ukrainian universities. Since 2014, the current president of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Dr. Serhii Kvit, has played a crucial role in this process, initially as Minister of Education and Science (2014-2016). Almost ten years ago, after several months of the invasion of Russian forces of the Donbas (November 24, 2014) Dr. Kvit stated that “There are a significant number of people who cannot leave for various reasons. In such cases, when it is not possible to move to study in other regions, but there is a desire to receive Ukrainian diplomas or certificates, we will develop mechanisms according to which students will receive Ukrainian documents. Obviously, these will be forms of external or distance learning.”6
Notwithstanding the difficult process of relocation examples from three major universities give us a model. Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University moved to Vinnytsia and Taras Shevchenko Luhansk University moved to Starobilsk (Luhansk region) in 2014, and when that city was occupied in 2022, it moved to Poltava. In 2016 V.I. Vernadsky Taurida National University was formally reopened in Kyiv, having been relocated there from the annexed Crimea.
With the full-scale invasion in 2022, nine more universities became displaced. However, previous experience of resilience and a flexible approach helped these universities implement changes more efficiently and quickly.
A study of the School for Policy Analysis at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy found that, “The system of higher education overcame the hardest initial stage of the full-scale war with as little turbulence as possible. Both the relevant state bodies and the universities themselves managed to ensure all stages of the educational process, resuming studies after a several week-long break and the shock of the full-scale invasion, organizing the completion of the academic year and the commencement of the new one, conducting an admissions campaign, which for most institutions followed an optimistic scenario.”7
Currently, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy is taking part in two large educational programs in cooperation with displaced universities, among others. These include Kherson State University, now based in Ivano-Frankivsk, and Mariupol State University, which was relocated to Kyiv in 2022.
Mariupol State University, with over 3,500 students, is the leading university of Mariupol, a city that suffered some of the worst destruction and Russian terror at the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Mariupol is temporarily occupied by Russia, but its biggest university has been preserved, which provides some measure of hope and continuity.
The experience of Berdiansk State Pedagogical University (Zaporizhzhia region), which was also relocated in 2022, highlights the concept of “Universities Without Walls”, the idea of an institution remaining flexible and accessible enough to provide education that is able to transcend physical boundaries. “The university community currently exists in a virtual format, with staff and students in different parts of Ukraine and the world,”8 write researchers from Berdiansk State Pedagogical University. The use of digital technologies and online platforms allows universities to maintain academic engagement and deliver quality education, even in the face of displacement.
Supporting displaced universities is one of the main educational priorities in Ukraine. In addition to the efforts of the state, the role of cooperation with partner universities, both within Ukraine and abroad, is equally important. These partnerships provide important resources, expertise, and opportunities for displaced universities to continue their educational mission despite the challenges of war.
