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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
In front of the walls of the National University “Odessa Polytechnic” in early September, protests by students, faculty, and veterans continue. Participants in the demonstrations oppose what they see as the use of graduate studies to obtain a postponement from mobilization by well-known officials.
According to UA.News, one of the main figures in the scandal is former Deputy Prosecutor General Dmytro Verbytsky. Journalists say he is studying in the Odessa Polytechnic graduate program full-time, which provides the right to a mobilization postponement.
The protestors call such practice a “fake graduate program” and demand that the university not be used to avoid mobilization.
Who else is in the spotlight
In addition to Verbytsky, the protesters recall Odesa’s deputy mayor Pavlo Vuhhelman and other officials and public figures who, according to activists, also received graduate-student status.
At the same time, the fact of Verbytsky’s enrollment in the university was officially confirmed by the Odessa Polytechnic rector Hennadiy Oborsky in response to a journalistic inquiry.
Thus, the former official’s admission to the graduate program is confirmed, but the assertion that the studies are fake requires separate verification.
What the protesters demand
Participants in the actions demand that Verbytsky, Vuhhelman, and other persons whom they call “VIP evaders” leave the university and not use studies as a way to obtain postponement.
The protesters have already submitted an official appeal to the Odessa Polytechnic administration.
They also state that they are ready to continue demonstrations and to extend them to other Ukrainian educational institutions if the issue of using education to illegally obtain postponements is not resolved.
There have already been inspections at the university
Odessa Polytechnic was previously in the spotlight of controlling authorities. In 2025 year, the State Quality Assurance Service conducted unscheduled checks of the university and its structural unit—the Automotive and Road College.
Grounds for the checks included, among other things, questions about financial activity and compliance with fire safety requirements.
The scandal around Verbytsky’s graduate program and other public figures unfolds against the backdrop of a broader problem of illegally obtaining mobilization postponements.
Law enforcement and government bodies regularly report on uncovering schemes in which fake employment or study is used to avoid mobilization. There were also reports of cases of soliciting money for preserving student postponements.
Meanwhile, regarding the Odessa Polytechnic, a final assessment of the legality of the studies of specific individuals and possible violations must be made by competent authorities.
As a reminder, in Odesa law enforcement detained a female employee of the district territorial center for staffing and social support (RTCSPS), who is suspected of demanding 11 thousand U.S. dollars for assistance in processing disability status and mobilization postponement.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Вербицький – аспірант Одеської політехніки: студенти й ветерани вийшли на протест". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: NARDEP 24.
