According to Russian propagandists, young people from the occupied territories will not apply to Ukrainian universities; applicants who have not studied in Ukrainian schools and have lived under occupation (some even for more than 10 years) are not interested in entering Ukrainian universities. However, children from Luhansk, Donetsk, and Crimea overcome a long and difficult path to study in Ukrainian educational institutions and receive Ukrainian diplomas.
A «TRIBUN» journalist debunked the Russian fake and found real stories of students who fled to the government-controlled territory.
Anastasia (name changed for safety reasons) is a resident of Sievierodonetsk. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, she was 17 years old. In March 2022, she and her family moved to Dnipro, but a few months later her parents decided to return to the occupied city. Anastasia was forced to live there for another year until she turned 18.
"The very next day after my birthday, I went to the government-controlled territory myself. I renewed my IDP status and entered a Ukrainian university. It was very scary to go through the occupiers' checkpoints, but I knew for sure that I would study only at a Ukrainian university", said the Severodonetsk resident.
Another one of our stories came from 18-year-old Biankpin Akassi Jean-Evelyne, a 1st year student. She is currently studying political science at Vernadsky Taurida National University.
Evelyn was born and lived in Donetsk until she was 17. She worked to support herself when she moved to the government-controlled territory. While living in the occupied city, Evelyn decided that her future lied only in Ukraine. Through the checkpoints and filtrations, she was on her way to her dream, despite the obstacles and difficulties along the way.
"Initially, I entered «Donetsk national university» in occupied Donetsk as a first-year student majoring in Political Science and had a quota to enter the best universities in Moscow. However, I still wanted to study in Ukraine. I left Donetsk via Rostov, Gomel, Brest, and then Warsaw. Through this way, thanks to a NGO, I got to Kyiv. When I arrived and applied for admission to TNU (Taurida National University), the coordinator told me that there was a special program for applicants from temporarily occupied territories," the young woman said.
It took me 10 long and hard days to reach my dream
V.I. Vernadsky Taurida National University is a displaced university from Crimea that is now operating in Kyiv. According to Evelyn, it was at this university that she was offered a helping hand.
"I chose Kyiv because I understood that I could realize my ambitions here. There are more opportunities here than in Lviv, where I originally planned to go. And I wanted to go to Lviv because of my beliefs and understanding that I would be less exposed to everything Russian there", the student said.
When I left the occupied territories, I got a sense of freedom that I hadn't had in my entire life. As long as you have no "roots" there, as long as you are young and able to easily start everything from scratch, it is worth doing so.
"Since 2016, we have been receiving requests for education of young people in the temporarily occupied territories. Before the full-scale invasion, we received them more often. There were the fewest appeals in 2022, because there were active hostilities then and, apparently, it was not the time for admission. Last year, there were about 300 appeals. This is quite a lot. In 2023, after the end of the admission campaign (in November), young people and their parents applied and asked about admission in 2024. That is, they were planning for the next year. It was very encouraging," said Violeta Artemchuk, coordinator of Donbas SOS.
She noted that after the full-scale invasion, people from the «old» occupied territories applied more often, while those from the newly occupied territories rarely did. According to Ms. Artemchuk, there may be two reasons for this: either they know everything about the simplified admission process or they know nothing.
Young people from the newly occupied territories usually study online at Ukrainian schools. We think that a certain part of them entered on a general basis (by passing the national multi-subject test). This year, more people from the newly occupied territories are applying. They ask if they are eligible for simplified admission.
Violeta Artemchuk said that the most common questions about admission relate to obtaining a Ukrainian certificate, passing exams in the history of Ukraine and the Ukrainian language (as to, about where you can improve your knowledge of these subjects if you have lived under occupation for 10 years). Residents from the occupied territories also ask about the duration of the admission campaign and where to apply at the first stage of admission. In addition, there are many questions that are not directly related to the admission process, but are important in making a decision: how to leave the occupied territories, what to say at the Russian filtering process, how to get a Ukrainian passport upon arrival, and how to prove that you have left the occupied territories.
Thus, according to Donbas SOS lawyers, the admission campaign for young people from the temporarily occupied territories to Ukrainian higher education institutions started on June 1, 2024.
Human rights activists are ready to give them advise on all admission issues on a daily basis. Evelyn, in turn, proposed her own initiative.
"On my Instagram page, I want to focus on teenagers from temporarily occupied territories who still watch my stories. There are not many of them, but still. I have created a Google form, which they can use to contact me. After all, contacting an organization is not always accessible to young people living under occupation," Evelyn added.
