Commencement under 'Shaheds': Kyiv University Did Not Halt Outdoor Event During Drone Attack

Interestingly, government representatives and even the national police were present at the event.

The Kyiv city police department reported that it is establishing the circumstances of the event with students during the air raid alert on 8 September, when the city was attacked by Russian attack drones.

The police noted that on Tuesday around 11:10 they received a report that on the territory of one of the capital's universities in the Darnytskyi district, during the air raid alert, an event with students was held.

The investigative-operational group of the district department, which arrived at the scene, confirmed that an event for commissioning first-year students as students was taking place on the open territory of the educational facility, and it was not stopped despite the city’s air raid alert and the presence in Kyiv’s airspace of Russian strike drones.

Currently, law enforcement is establishing all circumstances of the incident and has opened a criminal proceeding under part 1 of article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — neglect of duty.

The National Police did not specify the name of the educational institution, but according to several Telegram channels, the event was held at the Intellectual Property University — the live broadcast was on the institution’s social media pages.

Later the university posted a celebratory message greeting first-year students on behalf of the president of the Kyiv University of Intellectual Property and Law, Serhiy Kivalov, stating that a number of guests attended the event, such as Oleksandr Kopylenko, a deputy from Servant of the People, head of the Darnytskyi District State Administration Oleksandr Kovtunov, and even Timur Kalashnik, deputy head of the Darnytskyi Police Department. However, the post claims that the celebration was indeed interrupted due to the air raid alert.

As a reminder, the Kyiv Defense Council previously imposed restrictions on mass events in the city due to the deteriorating security situation. In Kyiv, all entertainment and physical culture and sports events on open grounds and in buildings without shelters were temporarily banned.