University moved again, but alive…

12.4.2022

Military history of Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University.

With the start of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian occupation forces, Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University was forced to flee the war for the second time in eight years. Having hastily left the now occupied city of Starobilsk, where the university’s headquarters have been located since 2014, as well as other branches of the institution in cities in eastern Ukraine in late February, students and teachers resumed their studies on March 10.

We spoke with the Chairman of the Academic Council of the university, the Rector in 1997-2014, Professor Vitalii Kurylo, to tell the military history of the university, with which millions of people connect their destinies.

The Past
In March 2021, Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University celebrated its 100th anniversary, making it the oldest institution of higher education in Donbas. The history of the educational institution dates back to the first teacher training courses in the region, opened in the village of Malomykolaivka, then Popasniansky, now Antratsyt district. Subsequently, the institution underwent the following transformations:

• Higher provincial courses centered in Bakhmut (1922-1923);
• Higher provincial courses centered in Luhansk (1923-1924);
• Donetsk Institute of Public Education (DIPE) (1924-1934) (in the beginning of 1920 Luhansk was the center of Donetsk province, then Bakhmut and again Luhansk);
• Voroshilovgrad Pedagogical Institute (1935-1958, 1970-1990);
• Luhansk Pedagogical Institute (1958-1970, 1990-1993);
• Luhansk Pedagogical Institute at the Eastern Ukrainian University (1993-1998);
• Luhansk Taras Shevchenko State Pedagogical University (1998-2008).

Today the institution has been named as Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University since 2008.

The Voroshilovgrad Pedagogical Institute underwent its first war-related evacuation in late 1941. The second was in 1942, as there was a repeated threat that Luhansk (Voroshilovgrad) would be captured by German troops.

2014

As of 2014, Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University was one of the most successful universities in Ukraine. The university had a large branched structure, which also included a number of colleges and lyceums. “We have about 30,000 students and pupils. In terms of contingent, we were among the ten largest universities in Ukraine. We have educated 2,500 foreign students from 25 countries, most of them from China, many were citizens of Serbia, and there were representatives of France and the United States. We have accredited about 150 different training programs.”

Vitalii Semenovych recalls an interesting detail about the faculty of LTSNU in the Crimea, which functioned in 2000-2014. “We had about 7 distance learning specialties there. And the largest set was in the specialty of Ukrainian language and literature. And training was paid, but people went and studied. Most of them were teachers who wanted to get a new qualification. We graduated 350 students in the Crimea in this specialty.“

The beginning of the war
Local pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian riots began before Russian occupation forces entered the city. The university opposed the separatist movements on its own.

“We organized our meetings, prevented the seizure of the Luhansk Regional State Administration, helped the police. On the eve of the capture of the city, we held a large rally with the participation of students, teachers of our university, invited other universities,” – Vitalii Kurylo, at that time – the Rector of the University, says.

But the forces were unequal. The reason is weak government, both at the central and local levels. “Those new officials, the heads of law enforcement agencies, who were appointed, were simply incapable of any decisive action,” explains Vitalii Semenovych.

The occupation of Luhansk took place very quickly. The university left the city virtually without anything.

“Those separatists were the first to come after me. On the first day, they seized the SBU building next to the university and then came to me. My portrait then hung on all the pillars: that I was the main enemy of their power. I was forced to leave, then other leaders began to leave, “said Vitalii Kurylo.

Teachers
Eventually, 85% of the university teaching staff left Luhansk. As for the 15 percent who did not leave, Vitalii Semenovych said that among them were people of retirement age, not ready to leave the place for health reasons or any other personal reasons. Although there were those who remained “of their choice.” There was a struggle between them for power with cockroaches in the bank: everyone wanted to become rector, but few succeeded.

“Most of the teachers who left and kept with the university are with us,” says Vitalii Kurylo with pride. – We have the smallest number of teachers who stayed there and went to cooperate with the occupation authorities. Their units, we all know them and can count on the fingers of two hands.

In 2015, Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University submitted to the Ministry of Education and Science a list of traitorous teachers with a request to revoke their academic titles. As a result, it was done.

“Their destiny is the one they have chosen,” Professor Kurylo concludes.

Moving. 2014
According to Vitalii Kurylo, about 75% of students continued their studies at the university, and later received diplomas. After the evacuation, the center of Luhansk University was concentrated in the city of Starobilsk – the district center of Luhansk region, where before the war there was a separate faculty of higher education. Also, some faculties were located in Kreminna, one faculty in Rubizhne, several colleges in Lysychansk and two faculties in Poltava.

The problem of work in the district centers of Luhansk region was the lack of proper material and technical base.

“In 7 years we have built a strong base in Starobilsk, Kreminna and Rubizhne. This was covered by state funds, university funds, as well as foreign grant support. We received the last grant from the EU in the amount of 1.5 million euros under the project “Influence of Teachers on Reconciliation Processes in Luhansk Region.” With these funds, we repaired a large building in Rubizhne and equipped it with state-of-the-art equipment. ” In total, about UAH 150 million has been invested in the development of the Free Economic Zone over the past 7 years.

On March 1, 2022, the opening of a new building was scheduled, timed to the 101st anniversary of the university. The administration, Institutes of Physics, Mathematics and Information Technologies, Public Administration, the Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology, Faculty of Tourism and Hotel and Restaurant Business were going to be moved to Rubizhne.

It is now known that the newly renovated university buildings were destroyed by shelling by the Russian occupiers.

Much of the university property remained in Starobilsk, and Vitalii Kurylo has no doubt that it has either been looted or will be looted in the near future. There is no destruction of buildings there.

It is known that the occupiers and their collaborators are trying to take the university into their own hands and allegedly found two teachers of local colleges who agreed to undertake the formation of education in the style of Russian measure.

Meanwhile in the occupation
In addition to the central building in Luhansk, several other departments of the university in other settlements remained under occupation.
The occupying power, as it managed, resumed the work of the institution. Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University became the Luhansk Pedagogical University. Along with Shevchenko’s name, a monument and a bas-relief of Kobzar were removed from it.

Moving. 2022
At the end of February, Vitalii Kurylo was on a business trip to Kyiv. He was supposed to return home to Starobilsk on February 23, but there were no tickets on the railway, so he met the war in the capital. Teachers and students left Starobilsk and other cities in the East, which were under threat of occupation in the first days of the war. Some continue the quiet evacuation to this day.

The management center of Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University is currently located in Poltava, where since 2014 the university has rented premises that housed the Faculty of Foreign Languages ​​and the Institute of Culture and Arts. “Most foreign students study at these faculties. We couldn’t keep them in Luhansk region,” Vitalii Semenovych explains.

Training during the war
The educational process resumed on March 10 is mostly online. LTSNU is used to it. Professor Kurylo says: “While most freelancers got used to distance learning after the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, we were ready for it much earlier. Having moved to Starobilsk, a rather small town, we, of course, could not accommodate everyone. Therefore, we immediately switched to distance learning. Already in 2015, university teachers have created about 18,000 online training courses.

Unfortunately, not all students can get in touch today. About 1,000 part-time students are fighting for Ukraine in the armed forces. There are students who remain in the areas where the fighting is taking place. Nevertheless, the training continues: teachers send students assignments, they complete and send for testing.

Foreign students also continue their studies. “The last time students were enrolled in the master’s program was on February 25. These are 21 students from China. They are now paying for tuition. They believe in us. We have been in the market of educational services for a long time, and we have never violated our agreements with anyone,” Vitalii Kurylo emphasizes.

Preconditions of war
Vitalii Kurylo, a resident of Luhansk region, a former MP of several convocations in the majority constituencies of the region, explains that since the 1990s the local government of Donbas has pursued an outspoken anti-Ukrainian policy, while the central government of Ukraine at the time turned a blind eye to it. Nothing Ukrainian was perceived, but Russian was developed.

Vitalii Kurylo shares his memories: “Our university was an island of the Ukrainian spirit in Donbas. They (the head of the Regional State Administration, the Regional Council – author) came, and here during classes, official events they speak Ukrainian. And at the same time we had the most students in the Luhansk region of all universities. It was wild for them, they were opponents of it. Clauses were written about our university. Everything we have achieved is only against them.”

On March 23, LTSNU suffered a heavy loss – in the city of Irpin in the suburbs of Kyiv, Russian invaders shot dead Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Public Service and Management of Educational and Social Institutions Yevhen Mykolaiovych Khrykov. Vox Ukraine sympathizes with relatives and friends who knew Mr. Hrykov.

What’s next
Vitalii Kurylo, the chairman of the Academic Council, is already thinking about the future. “As soon as the situation calms down, we will first gather everything together in Poltava. And then we will see that in Luhansk region… We all believe in victory, in our Armed Forces, in the liberation of Ukraine, because we do not want to return to Starobilsk, we want to return to Luhansk. There are a lot of people waiting for Ukraine. I know”.

Yulia Guz, Vox about the war
https://voxukraine.org/znovu-peremishhenyj-ale-zhyvyj-voyenna-istoriya-luganskogo-natsionalnogo-universytetu-imeni-tarasa-shevchenka/