Ukraine to introduce extra university exam to expose draft dodgers – media

Some are using postgraduate courses to “avoid their responsibilities” defending the country, its deputy education minister has said.

Ukraine is planning to introduce an additional midterm qualification exam for undergraduate and postgraduate university students, Strana.ua has reported. The move comes amid a drive by Kiev to mobilize more men to fight against Russia.

Those who fail the test face expulsion from their colleges, thus losing their draft deferment, the outlet said in an article on Saturday.

In April, the Ukrainian Education Ministry issued a decree ordering such an exam to be taken by those seeking bachelor’s and master’s degrees in legal science. Now Ukrainian MPs want to turn the practice into a law and expand it to include other specializations and Ph.D. candidates.

Ukraine’s Deputy Education Minister Mikhail Vinnitsky “basically confirmed” that the new exam is intended to reduce the number of men with draft deferments, according to Strana.ua.

“Unfortunately, not all of our Ph.D. candidates (especially those aged 25+) are acting in good faith. If a person starts a postgraduate course for other reasons [than obtaining a degree], he may have difficulties [with the exam],” Vinnitsky wrote in Facebook comments cited by the outlet.

It’s a problem for Ukraine that post-graduate courses have become “a way to avoid certain responsibilities,” he said, in an apparent reference to military service. “This situation needs to be corrected,” the official added.

Vinnitsky also said that the test is going to be organized “anytime soon” and that even those who started their postgraduate courses before the introduction of the legislation would have to take it.

Meanwhile, a petition against the introduction of the exam has been launched on the website of the Ukrainian government; it has already gathered almost 1,800 signatures.

In February, Alexander Kornienko, the deputy chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, revealed that the number of postgraduate students in Ukraine has spiked from 2,000 to 20,000 since the start of the conflict with Russia in February 2022.

Last month, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky signed a stringent new mobilization law amid troop shortages his country has experienced on the front line. The legislation lowers the conscription age from 27 to 25, greatly expands the powers of enlistment officers and introduces assorted restrictions for draft dodgers. The country’s foreign ministry has suspended consular services for military-aged Ukrainians abroad in preparation for the mobilization reform that will enter force later in May.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said earlier this week that the Ukrainian military’s losses since the beginning of the year have already surpassed 111,000 troops.

Image credit: Nathan Dumlao