Studying should be a wonderful time in life. A time when you are looking for yourself, making plans for the future, making friends, maybe doing something stupid. However, this lightness disappears at the entrance to the National University of Ukraine, Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (KPI), one of the most prestigious universities in the country. A black-and-white plaque features black-and-white photographs of students, faculty, and alumni who have died since February 24, 2022; this is how they honor their memory. According to information from KPI, these are at least 33 people, and one student is considered missing, somewhere on the frontline, from which Kyiv is now separated by hundreds of kilometers.
"We were all naive," says Andriy Mitroshyn, who is studying engineering at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and is a second-year student. "Most people here did not believe that Russia would attack." The 23-year-old student is sitting with an energy drink and a backpack on a bench on the university campus, where lilacs are blooming on these days in May. In a nearby park, students sit under tall chestnut trees.
On the morning the war broke out, Andriy Mitroshyn was here, on campus, where he lives with 6,000 other students. At the time, due to coronavirus restrictions, classes were still held online. Now, almost a year and a half later, Mitroshyn's life is different. He says that he pays more attention to his health, has lost weight, and is exercising more. "I keep myself in shape. But I am not a fighter. I want to focus on my studies." To the extent that is possible now.
Learning as a life hack
Over the past few months, Andriy's hometown of Mykolaiv, in southern Ukraine, has been subjected to numerous brutal attacks by Russia, and the fighting there has not stopped. When a rocket landed near his family's house last April, the window and balcony of the apartment were damaged. Mitroshyn later repaired the damage with money he had been saving for his future. His brother and father are now at the front and it is not always possible to contact them. "I'm proud of them," he says. But he does not want to fight himself. "I can't do it, I can't go and kill someone." There are many people like Andriy in the country. But many find it difficult to talk about it. In most cases, journalists get a response: "If I have to, I will fight." Mitroshyn doesn't have to yet. After all, students and faculty are not mobilized in Ukraine. Even before the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, these categories of citizens were exempt from conscription.
"That's why studying has become a life hack for many men," says journalist Kateryna Rodak of the Lviv-based investigative publication Nashi Hroshi. In a recently published investigation, the team gathered nationwide data on the number and gender of students and unexpectedly found that in the 2022/23 academic year, there are 82 percent more male students in Ukraine than in the previous year. The average age of those who have recently entered universities is about thirty years old. "Of course, we asked ourselves why this is," says Rodak. "The answer is obvious: most are trying to legally avoid mobilization in this way."
An unpredictable time
Finding interview participants was a really difficult task for Rodak. If there were men who agreed to answer her questions, it was only on the condition of complete anonymity, without being named or filmed. "Many of them admitted that they had no interest in studying, but only did the minimum to avoid dropping out of the university," the journalist explains. A circumstance that would probably not have been discussed in peacetime. However, Ukraine is under martial law. "The men interviewed want to live the same way as women," Rodak says. "They are afraid to die and afraid to go to the front. They are also afraid of being convicted for it."
One student, who did not want to publish his real name, chose the name Mykhailo for an interview with WOZ. He is twenty-five years old, studying literary studies and would like to work as a translator someday. "We live in unpredictable times. Representatives of the military administration are responsible for mobilization and hand out draft notices in many places. That's why many people are cautious and afraid that their opinions might be found out," was the student's answer to the question of why he did not want to give his real name.
Mykhailo decided to go for a master's degree for two reasons: first, he believes and wants the Russian invaders to prevent the Russians from completely ruining life and distorting the way of life in his country; so that even in such times of violence and aggression, students can still continue their studies and people do not have to hide in basements. The second reason is mobilization. Mykhailo is afraid that one day it will affect him. "In general, I don't feel any increased pressure from society that men like me should fight," he says. "But there are those who believe that all men should stand up for the state and defend it from the Russians." These opinions, insults and accusations are especially active on the Internet.
Fodder for propaganda?
From the very beginning, Kateryna Rodak understood that the published material would provoke angry comments and calls. "Many people complained and asked why we made this report, because people have this idea that we should write only about the positive things in our country. About morality, a great readiness to fight." An argument that critics often hear from journalists who, like Rodak, specialize in investigative reporting: that stories about corruption and internal political scandals play into the hands of Russian propaganda, or that these issues and investigations are not relevant now, and should be addressed after the war. "But this is not how it works in a democratic society," Rodak says. "Unfortunately, many officials use the war to hide information when we send requests."
According to Rodak, it is important to make such reports to know the state of affairs, to understand the situation of people and the mood that prevails. Once again, polls show that public support for the government is still high. The majority of the population wants nothing to do with Russia. However, the announced counteroffensive poses a major challenge to the country: significant losses are expected again, as was the case near Kharkiv and Kherson. For those who have been fighting since the beginning of the war, there is still no break in sight. And for men who do not have the privilege or means to enter a higher education institution, the risk of being mobilized into the army is growing with each passing day as the war continues.
"Currently, 5-10 percent come to us as volunteers," says Colonel Yuriy Burliay, head of the Brovary military enlistment office. An armed soldier stands in front of the building's entrance behind a camouflage net and sandbags, which can be seen at most checkpoints. Burliay invites me to his office, where the conscription decisions are kept. The colonel divides the male population of Ukraine into three categories: the first includes those who voluntarily came to military recruitment offices in the first days and weeks of the war and took up arms; the second category includes those who did not want to go to war but went to the front after being mobilized. The third category includes those who do not want to go to war and are looking for any opportunity to avoid mobilization.
Additional entrance tests
Colonel Burliay knows that many people are looking for ways to avoid mobilization, including through legal means. "This may have a positive effect on the level of education of the population, but we also know that not everyone studies just for the sake of knowledge," he says. "It's a fact that those who risk their lives on the front line day in and day out don't have such a good opinion of those who hide from mobilization. Obviously, after the war there will be tension between these two categories."
"However, the fight against Russia's invasion is not only on the battlefield," says Oleksiy Zhuchenko, vice-rector of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. A 39-year-old, neatly shaved man in a blue suit, Oleksiy Zhuchenko emphasizes that his students make an important contribution to the fight during the war. "Our engineers and scientists at the university are actively involved in the development of various defense technologies," he says. "Which ones will be made public after the war is over."
Zhuchenko has a sheet of paper with bar charts on his desk. In total, 25,000 students study at KPI, twelve percent of whom live abroad and study online because of the war. Almost seventy percent of the students are young men; this number is consistent with previous years. This is also due to KPI's focus on engineering and IT, two key fields that traditionally attract men in Ukraine. "We have even introduced additional tests to weed out those who want to study only because of the risk of mobilization," says the vice rector. "I don't condemn it, but I don't approve of it either."
Happiness in misfortune
"Today the university has other problems," says Vice-Rector Zhuchenko. He leads us through the sunlit corridors, past the security guards and a memorial plaque, to a park where a charred lawn and a few burnt branches testify to what happened the night before the talk, when Kyiv was once again attacked by Russia with drones and missiles. According to the Ukrainian army, air defense has managed to intercept most missiles and drones over the city in recent weeks. But the debris regularly falls on houses, cars, or - as in this case - on the KPI campus.
"We are still somehow lucky in all the misfortune," Zhuchenko says. He is referring to many other educational institutions in the country. According to a study by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the United Nations, the war has caused at least $4.4 billion in damage to educational institutions across the country. As of February 24, 2023, at least 2,772 institutions were partially damaged and 454 were destroyed, or about ten percent.
"I haven't slept much in the last few weeks," says student Andriy Mitroshyn, who, like most residents of the capital, has been waking up to explosions almost every day for the last month. "We haven't had this in Kyiv for a long time." Although the frontline is far away now, the war is unavoidable even in the capital, he says, and everyone must do their part. "There is a part of the population that has to fight," Mitroshyn says. "The rest of us have to support such people in this."
Every two weeks he donates blood for wounded soldiers. Andriy Mitroshyn says he doesn't feel any social pressure to go to war - on the contrary, his parents want him to finish his studies. Andriy dreams of teaching at KPI. That's why he wants to defend his dissertation after his master's degree. And, if he has to, he will go to war, says Mitroshyn, like most people who are asked about it.