Policy of Russian Federation and pro-Russian Separatists in the Sphere of Higher Education in the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine

Abstract

Education is one of the main factors in shaping a person as a personality, a citizen and a professional. The higher education system, because of its integral importance and because it provides the opportunity for development in the highest sense, is the pinnacle that crowns the entire education system in general. Therefore, the negative consequences in this system caused by socio-cultural upheavals, the worst of which is military aggression, can play an important role in the development of the country’s civil society and consequently affect its entire functioning in the present and future. Ukraine, which in 2014 chose European integration and compliance with European standards as a goal and point of reference in all spheres, including higher education, has become the target of aggressive actions by the Russian Federation, which are causing consequences that are becoming new difficulties for the entire Ukrainian state, including the higher education system. The aim of this article is to describe the policy of the Russian Federation and pro-Russian separatists in the sphere of higher education in the occupied territories of Ukraine, in addition to examining the compatibility of these actions with the concept of Russification of higher education. The research methods used by the author in compiling the article are source analysis (including legal documents), deduction and induction.