When Yulia Berg was in her second year at Odesa I.I. Mechnikov National University in Odesa, a strategic port city in Ukraine, her university life, once defined by lectures, was suddenly rewritten by war.

“Everyone experienced the beginning of the war in their own way, but for me, it meant missing out on student life,” Berg told Truthout. Berg graduated in May 2025 with a degree in international relations, and lived the bulk of her college experience during wartime, at times hearing missiles just outside of her apartment.

Berg is far from alone. Russia’s invasion has forced school-aged Ukrainians to contend with the cruel realities of war — and, in many cases, reevaluate their views on the role of civic life and education in their country.

Berg saw major shifts on her university campu

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