Between Sirens and Seminars: An Ordinary Day of a Ukrainian Student

People often say that your twenties are the best years of your life. They are the years when you study, build lifelong friendships, fall in love, discover who you are, and begin building a career. They are years filled with dreams, plans, and

possibilities.

Much of it revolves around studying and everyday routines. In Paris, you might spend the afternoon studying in a small café between lectures before meeting friends for a dinner that stretches late into the night. In London, you might rush between university classes, part-time work, and crowded trains, trying to build a future in a city that never slows down. In Amsterdam, you might cycle through quiet streets to campus, balancing your studies with the excitement of newfound

independence.

For Yana, a 21-year-old student from Kharkiv, those dreams look a little different. Yana studies cybersecurity and hopes to build a career in the field after graduation. Like students everywhere, her mornings begin with an alarm clock, a cup of coffee,

and a quick look at the day's lectures.

But unlike students in Paris, London, or Amsterdam, Yana does not walk into a university building. Her university was damaged during the war. Instead, she studies online, like more than 200,000 Ukrainian students whose education has been

disrupted by Russia's full-scale invasion (Ukrinform, 2026). 

Today, Yana has an exam. Preparing for exams is stressful anywhere. But imagine revising while listening for air raid sirens. Imagine opening your laptop in a bomb shelter because missiles are approaching your city. Imagine trying to concentrate on complex equations while knowing your phone could interrupt you at any moment with another warning to seek

shelter.

And the exam is not the only thing on Yana's mind.

Many of her closest friends no longer live in Kharkiv. Some have moved abroad, while others have relocated to safer regions of Ukraine. This is part of a wider pattern: around 60,000 Ukrainian children currently living abroad continue their

Ukrainian education online (Ukrinform, 2026). The student life Yana once imagined - crowded lecture halls, group study sessions, and spontaneous evenings with friends - has been replaced by distance and screens. Messages and video calls have become the main way of staying connected, making separation an ordinary part of everyday life.

Yet Yana keeps studying.

She attends lectures. She completes assignments. She makes plans for the future. She talks with friends about careers, travel, and the life they hope to build after graduation. She is 21 years old, and she still has dreams.

And she is not alone.

Across Ukraine, over 3.7 million students are currently enrolled in the education system (Media Center Ukraine, 2025). Many are living lives much like Yana's, trying to build a future while navigating blackouts, air raid sirens, displacement, and

uncertainty. Others have exchanged classrooms for military uniforms and are serving on the front line. When we read the news, we often see numbers, maps, and military updates. We hear about missile strikes, territorial gains, and diplomatic negotiations. But we rarely think about people like Yana. We rarely think about the student preparing for an exam during an air raid. About Yana in Kharkiv, whose university was damaged by war but who continues to study anyway. About Olena in Lviv, Maksym in Dnipro, or Kateryna in Kyiv, trying to keep up with lectures between blackouts and displacement. About the thousands of young people trying to live ordinary lives under extraordinary circumstances.

War is often measured in statistics. But it is also measured in interrupted lectures, friendships stretched across borders, abandoned campuses, and young people whose twenties are shaped not by freedom and opportunity, but by survival and

resilience. Behind every headline there is a Yana. Behind every statistic there is a person trying to live, learn, and dream despite the war.

Author: Kristina Rondar

Sources:

Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. (2025).

Over 3.7 million students currently enrolled in Ukraine’s education system – Ministry

of Education and Science - Media Center Ukraine

Ukrinform. (2026).

Over 200,000 students in Ukraine study online – Education Minister Lisovyi

This article was produced by a participant from the European Liberal Youth LYMEC with the financial support of the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe. The opinions expressed in this article  are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the Council of Europe.