In Crimea, 1,000 college spots were allocated to participants in the war against Ukraine

Occupation-run higher education institutions and colleges in Crimea enrolled more than 1,000 participants in the war against Ukraine and their relatives in 2026. The occupiers have created special preferential conditions and individualized study plans for this category of students.

This was reported by Suspilne.Crimea. 

In total, there are already more than 3,000 such “privileged students” on the peninsula.

According to the publication, citing the press service of the occupying Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Crimea, the most popular fields of study among them are law, construction, medicine and nursing, and shipbuilding.

According to Valentina Lavryk, the occupying Minister of Science and Education of Crimea, each student among the participants in the special military operation is assigned a mentor. She noted that students in this category are offered the opportunity to create an individualized study plan and extend exam deadlines to accommodate the need for medical treatment, rehabilitation, or the fulfillment of military duties.

In 2026, Russia expanded the list of educational benefits for participants in the war against Ukraine. They were allowed to pursue a second secondary vocational education free of charge. The occupying authorities are applying this decision to the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories as well, encouraging service in the Russian Armed Forces and attempting to accelerate the social adaptation of military personnel by utilizing civilian educational resources.

For admission to higher education institutions in 2022, the occupying authorities introduced a separate preferential quota of at least 10% of state-funded spots. This allows military personnel to be admitted based on simplified internal exams instead of the Unified State Exam (USE), while individuals with state awards and children of fallen soldiers are admitted without any entrance exams at all. 

Юлія Калабайда