Revenge of Buhrov: Who Is Behind the Candidates for Rector of KNU

“If you review the list of candidates for the rector of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, you won’t notice Buhrov’s surname there. But he is there…”

Volodymyr Buhrov, 5 August 2026 year

Back in May 2026, the Ministry of Education approved four contenders for the rector of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University: director of the Educational and Scientific Institute of International Relations Valerii Kopiiaka, former vice-rector for international relations Ksenia Smirnova, former vice-rector for science Hanna Tolstanova, and, as they say, the “fly-in” first vice-rector of the State University of Information and Communication Technologies Oleksandr Korchenko.

At that time the Ministry of Education followed the requirements of education law and did not allow the scandalous former rector Volodymyr Buhrov to run after a court decision and his inclusion in the NACP register of corrupt officials. That is why the ministry’s notice listed four candidates for KNU rector. However, the electoral arithmetic shows something else: in effect, Kopiiaka and Buhrov are the ones competing. And here’s why.

In April 2026, Buhrov was confident that Verkhovna Rada Chair Ruslan Stefanchuk and other high officials friendly to him would use “phone justice” to influence the court and wash him clean of corruption offenses. But the discredited Buhrov had grown tiresome to everyone with his years of corruption and sexual scandals, and his former patrons turned away from him. And the judiciary decided to act according to the law. With no Plan B but still wanting to profit from the University, Buhrov immediately began building a team of his candidates for KNU rector.