Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 unleashed a demographic crisis in Ukraine, and its universities were among the hardest hit as students fled abroad and state funding shifted to the war effort.

Yet in the city of Zhytomyr, a regional capital an hour and a half west of Kyiv, one institution has not only survived but found a way to grow. The city itself holds a unique place in Ukrainian history, briefly serving as the national capital of the Ukrainian People’s Republic during the struggle for independence from 1917 to 1920.

Today, Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University stands out as a rare wartime success story.

Much of the university’s transformation is credited to its rector, Viktor Yevdokymov, who joined the institution in 2005 and has led it as rector since 2016.

“The model

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