Permanent Representative Olha Kuryshko took part in a broadcast titled “Children from Occupied Territories: How to Enter Ukrainian Universities and What the State Should Do?” on the Crimea Vox channel.

The broadcast featured Valeriia Kuberska, an expert from the Center for Civic Education Almenda, and was moderated by Suleiman Mamutov, an expert of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Participants discussed the key challenges of the 2025 university admissions campaign for applicants from temporarily occupied territories, emphasizing the need to expand support tools and improve access to information.

Olha Kuryshko emphasized the importance of a systemic communication approach with applicants from Crimea, shared relevant statistics, and presented examples of interagency cooperation.

“Before the full-scale invasion, we had nearly 400 students from the occupied territories enrolling each year, and this number was gradually increasing. Last year, however, there were only 57 such applicants. This illustrates how complex and risky the journey has become for them to reach government-controlled areas of Ukraine,” noted Permanent Representative Olha Kuryshko.

She also announced the launch of a dedicated landing page titled “Educational Platform for Residents of Crimea,” created by the Mission in cooperation with civil society organizations and supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. This resource consolidates key information on educational opportunities for residents of temporarily occupied Crimea — from university admissions to Ukrainian language courses.

The conversation highlighted the issue of educational justice. Olha Kuryshko emphasized that children who, due to the conditions of occupation, have not studied the Ukrainian language should not be expected to take exams under the same conditions as their peers from government-controlled areas. Ukraine must ensure access to higher education and proper integration through Ukrainian studies and flexible learning formats.

She also underscored the key distinction between the occupation of 2014 and territories temporarily occupied after 2022. Unlike Crimea, some educational institutions were successfully relocated from newly occupied areas, allowing them to maintain contact with students. In Crimea, such channels are nearly non-existent. The risk of persecution by the Russian Federation for any contact with Ukrainian state institutions poses a serious threat, potentially resulting in unlawful administrative or criminal charges.

In the first half of 2025 alone, 75 education-related inquiries were received from Crimea, including requests for document recognition, school enrollment, and participation in the admissions campaign. This underscores both the continuing interest from Crimean residents and the urgent need for strengthened institutional support and accessible information.