…Before dawn on February 24, 2022, most of us awoke to the sounds of explosions. A new reality awaited everyone outside their windows. Our concerns, desires and plans, which only yesterday seemed so important and urgent, immediately became insignificant. They were pushed to the margins of mind by putin's delusions about a new empire. Half-crazed hordes moved to our land, ready to kill, destroy, rob and burn everything that caught their eye.
However, the war started earlier. From the first shots fired at protesters in Maidan in 2014, from the criminal russian annexation of Crimea, from the bloody battles in the east of our country. But where there were no explosions and shots, it was not so noticeable. Unless television news on most channels started with information about the situation in Donbas, there were more men and women in military uniforms on the streets, and graves with young faces on monuments in cemeteries. However, the atmosphere around was thickening, the ominous breath of a great war became more and more noticeable in the air, but not everyone preferred to pay attention to it.
But the first predawn explosions on February 24 changed everything. A new life began. Tens of thousands of yesterday's engineers, managers, teachers, sellers, drivers, businessmen, architects, accountants, students (this list may be continued endlessly) became soldiers of the Armed Forces and the National Guard, soldiers of territorial defense units, and volunteers. They were not only men, women and girls stood side by side with them defending the Motherland. Computer scientists who won international programming tournaments turned into defenders of Ukrainian cyberspace and soldiers of the Ukrainian IT army.
Even those of its citizens who had already worked abroad for a long time moved to Ukraine. Young people who studied modern technologies at universities became specialists in the manufacturing of Molotov cocktails and trench candles. There were quite a few Kyiv polytechnicians among them. Several of our colleagues died in the first days of the defense of Kyiv.
Our employees and students were also among those who strongly retaliated against enemy subversive reconnaissance units that managed to break into Kyiv in the first days of the large-scale war.
The word "evacuation" became part of our life: Kyiv streets emptied, playgrounds became quiet. Anti-tank hedgehogs, previously known only from war films, appeared on the roads. Highways were blocked by roadblocks. Sandbags covered the monuments. Paper ribbons crossed the windows of high-rise buildings. Air alarms alternated day and night. From time to time, russian rockets hit residential buildings and killed civilians. Almost all the time, the outskirts of the city were shrouded in smoke - bloody battles were taking place just a few kilometers further. There, near the villages and cozy towns, the defenders of Kyiv repelled the enemy's attack by attack, and then, losing the best of their comrades, they went into a counterattack. In the end, the orcs’ advance towards the Ukrainian capital was stopped. And soon they took flight! They fled, leaving their weapons, equipment and dead bodies everywhere. And on April 2, 38 days after the start of the large-scale war, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine officially announced that the offensive on Kyiv had been brought to a halt and the entire Kyiv Oblast had been liberated. The blitzkrieg that the rashists were counting on failed!
As soon as on Monday, April 4, classes resumed at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute after the forced vacation announced on February 25. No doubt, it was an online study mode, synchronous or asynchronous, with a change in session timings and work modes - but full-fledged training! However, we talked about all this in our newspaper...
The countdown to the Victory of Ukraine began right from the victory near Kyiv. The path to the Victory will not be easy, but we cannot stop and have no right to be tired. Everyone in their place must do their best for it. All the more the whole civilized world is helping us nowadays: the war clearly demonstrated who was our enemy and who was a true and reliable friend. We became closer to our partners, we got new opportunities for cooperation (see the material below). We are strong together! We will win together!
The beginning full-scale rf invasion
Dear staff and students of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. I wish not to believe in what is happening now. However,
1. The Dormitory Campus has a coordination headquarters headed by O.A. Ishchenko (0677323329). After giving the siren, the students moved to a shelter.
2. Remote employees should stay at home and follow the instructions of official local authorities.
3. Coordination of actions within the University is carried out through the telegram channel “Rectorate” (https://t.me/rektoratkpi). Please subscribe.
Let us stay calm and help each other.
All Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute services responsible for the work of the University perform their duties. Employees are advised to stay at home, follow the orders of official local authorities and stay calm. The Coordination Headquarters of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute coordinates the actions of the University. Rector of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute Michael Zgurovsky is Head of the Coordination Headquarters. You can contact the University through the person on duty: 044 204 9100.