The international outlet Forbes has published an article about the Center for Leadership of Ukraine’s Defenders, which operates at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. The author, Tamar Jacoby, emphasized that it is here that the generation set to inherit Ukraine after the war is taking shape.
This was reported by Forbes.
In the article “Ukrainian Veterans Prepare For Postwar Leadership,” it describes how veterans undergo an intensive educational program at the center—studying history, literature, public administration, and strategic communications. Classes are held several times a week, and most instructors from “Mohylianka” teach on a volunteer basis.
“The men and women who gathered on a summer Saturday in an ordinary classroom in central Kyiv were unremarkable in appearance. Pale, slender women in black punk style chatted calmly with stocky men in work clothes. Their ages ranged from just over twenty to late middle age. They greeted each other warmly, joked, and took their seats at plastic desks, waiting for the instructor. What united them was one thing: they were all Ukrainian veterans, selected to participate in a program they hoped would prepare them for future leadership—in government, civic organizations, or local initiatives. As the program’s co-founders explained, the goal is to ‘rebuild and strengthen Ukraine,’” Forbes writes.
The program leaders—Yana Chapailo and Mariia Savrun—note that the center’s mission is to cultivate responsibility and prepare participants for future leadership. “We speak openly about the weaknesses of the Ukrainian system, focusing on what a future leader can change,” Chapailo explains. In its first year, the program covered more than 100 veterans, and all of them studied free of charge.
Forbes also highlights participant stories. Among them are Tymur Abdulin, who after his service experience aims to return to the military and prove his ability to be a commander, and Liudmyla Pautets, who now heads the tactical medicine direction at the “Come Back Alive” organization. Both stress that the greatest value of the program is the community of veterans who “have been through the same thing and understand one another.”
The author underscores that, after the war ends, Ukraine may have up to 3 million veterans—nearly 10% of the population. And it is they who, in Forbes’ view, will play a key role in rebuilding and reforming the country.
“The Center for Leadership of Ukraine’s Defenders, operating at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy—a small, elite university in the heart of the capital—offers a glimpse into the generation to whom Ukraine will belong in the years after the war,” Jacoby concludes.
Author: Danylo Pievchev