SumDU: chronicles of war

On February 24, the war caught us by surprise. Artillery shelling, air raids, and street fighting have become the daily reality for Ukrainians. Everyone is trying to fight, to make the personal contribution to the common victory of Ukraine over the invader, because, unfortunately, the war is going on not only for the territory but for souls and hearts. Sumy State University makes every effort to get the victory in Sumy as soon as possible. We tried to record the important events of this three-week confrontation, and then remember them with gratitude and pride.

Support of foreign students of SumDU during the war

On the first day of Russia's war against Ukraine, Sumy became one of the first cities to be hit by the enemy. Nine hours after the invasion, Sumy kept the first fighting, enemy vehicles were on fire, and tanks were driving around the city. Because of this, Sumy was surrounded by Russian troops from the first day of the war. Not only civilians but also foreign students of SumDU stayed in the city. Of more than 2,000 foreign students of SumDU, about 1,700 were in Sumy at the beginning of the war who were unable to leave their homes before the start of hostilities.

The safety of international students immediately became one of the university's top priorities. SumDU provided students with food and basic necessities, equipped dormitories with safe shelters to accommodate all students in case of bombings.

It was not possible to leave Sumy safely for 12 days. At that time, the enemy used the stay of foreign students in the city for propaganda purposes spreading fakes and false information. The university provided students with everything they needed - food and water when after the bombing in the areas of dormitories there were problems with water supply. Also, students were constantly supported by the administration, teachers, and other students, negotiations with embassies continued.

Tensions rose after the bombing the critical infrastructure of the city, the electricity, water, heating, and communications were cut off for a time. The university made every effort to overcome the consequences of the impact - installed additional autonomous generators, relocated some students, increased the amount of supplied water. But in general, the emotional state of foreign students has deteriorated.

On March 8, the first so-called "green corridor" was agreed upon, the evacuation process began and foreign students were the first who left the city. All 1,700 foreign students of SumDU safely reached Poltava, and then western Ukraine, where there were no active hostilities on that day. From there, foreign students left Ukraine with the assistance of the embassies of their countries.

The number of people who wanted to leave the city was big, so the university provided its own transport to the citizens for evacuation.

Providing the Territorial Defense with products

The war caught all Ukrainians by surprise, neglecting a large number of plans. But SumDU staff tried to react quickly and help the community. In addition to the catering complex of the university helping to provide food for international students, the products to be used during events in the early days of the war were used to prepare lunches for the Territorial Defense of the city. And now, for the third week in a row, the SumDU public catering complex has been constantly engaged in baking bread and other products for the needs of the Territorial Defense and other categories of the population.

Bomb shelters on the territory of SumDU

The city of Sumy has been subjected to air and artillery shelling several times. Unfortunately, there are even victims… There are not many specialized bomb shelters in Sumy, the vast majority of them have been since the Second World War. Experts do not advise hiding in the basements of high-rise buildings, because there is a risk of buildings falling. That is why the university opened bomb shelters for citizens, residents of the districts. Sumy residents, who live not far from the university campuses, come to the beginning of the curfew and spend the night in the university shelters. For example, on March 12, enemy planes dropped 5 bombs near SumDU, which damaged more than 100 university windows. However, the people in the shelter were not injured. The university has promptly eliminated the consequences of the bombing and continues to operate (as far as the security situation allows).

Information resistance

The war has many aspects, in particular, it is going on within the information field. Unfortunately, there is a lot of false information about the Russian attack, especially among Russians, Belarusians, and people of the Central Asia countries. Therefore, students and staff of SumDU are trying to conduct information resistance.

For example, the staff prepared and sent more than 2,000 address letters with true information about the war in Ukraine.

Students regularly record and post videos on social media telling the truth about the Russian invasion.

Representatives of SumDU communicate with foreign media, more than 100 media outlets have already reported on how foreign students from different countries stayed in the occupied city of Sumy.

All social networks of the university work to the fullest informing people abroad as well try to support all Ukrainians with patriotic content, advice from psychologists, and doctors.

Medical students also organized webinar on first aid, and student psychologists conduct a series of webinars on psychological resilience.

Students and staff are members of the movement of blood donors, which is also actively illustrated on the pages of SumDU in social networks.

Participation in Territorial Defense

And of course, many employees of the university joined the ranks of Territorial Defense and defend their homeland and the city from the Russian occupiers.

Plans and prospects

Despite the shelling, the university continues to work actively and conduct scientific and international activities. SumDU is one of the leaders among Ukrainian institutions of higher education in terms of scientific activity, a large number of contracts are executed for other organizations, including foreign ones. Even during the war, applications for grant projects continued to be submitted.

All employees and students of the university believe in the imminent victory of Ukraine, everyone is making every effort to make this day come as soon as possible. We will rebuild everything and become stronger because we are Sumy State University. We will stand and win!