On April 2, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted a resolution allowing male students to travel abroad, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine reported
At the same time, students were allowed to leave only under certain conditions, a list of which is contained in the resolution entitled “On Amendments to the Rules for Crossing the State Border by Citizens of Ukraine.”.
According to it, male students will be able to go abroad if they:
- aged 18 to 22, are not subject to conscription for military service during mobilization;
- study full-time at state or municipally owned higher education institutions of Ukraine and obtain a bachelor's degree (master's degree in medicine, pharmacy or veterinary medicine);
- are participants in the so-called "educational academic mobility" - that is, they travel abroad temporarily for studies or internships to gain new knowledge and experience.
- go to study at foreign educational institutions for 1 semester.
The document also lists the documents that students must provide for departure:
- a certificate from a higher education institution in Ukraine regarding the sending of a participant in the academic mobility program to study at a foreign educational institution, indicating:
- grounds for cooperation; duration of the academic semester abroad;
- absence of negative grades and facts of retaking tests and exams based on the results of the last two semesters (half-years);
- confirmation of the level of knowledge of the language of instruction at a foreign educational institution;
- a copy of the academic mobility agreement, certified by an educational institution in Ukraine;
- student e-ticket verified by the “Diya” portal;
- military registration documents with the corresponding marks of the district, city CCC and social support.
The State Border Service of Ukraine informed the BBC that they cannot yet comment on the government's decision, as they have not yet received and studied the approved documents. They also added that they cannot currently assess how the new order will work.
Ukrainian male students studying at foreign universities faced the problem of traveling abroad as early as the fall of 2022.
At that time, there were whole lines of students at checkpoints who were not allowed to leave Ukraine despite the fact that they had all the documents proving their studies in other countries.
The Border Service then motivated the refusals by the fact that all men aged 18 to 60 are prohibited from leaving during martial law, and students are not included in the list of exceptions to this rule, which is prescribed in the law.
At the same time, lawyers emphasized that such a situation is controversial and may violate the right to education enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine.
There is no conscription into the army during martial law. People are mobilized into the army from the age of 27, if they have not completed compulsory military service. They can also be mobilized voluntarily up to the age of 27.
