How it feels to move to Oxford from an active war zone

Today marks the passing of one year since Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, my home country. I clearly remember what I was doing that day and these memories send shivers down my spine. Over the year, I am fortunate to be in Oxford studying Master of Public Policy. With the generous scholarship from the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust, I found a true sense of sanctuary at Oxford. 

The Trust’s efforts to help young people from war-afflicted regions access their studies in Oxford are making an enormous difference in the prospects of countries like Ukraine. It is truly a life-changing experience to get acquainted with the world’s leading experts and professionals to learn how to manage and solve pressing social problems in a country ravaged by war.

It was my dearest dream to study governance at the world’s leading university, so I submitted my application in December 2021 and prayed that my efforts would come to fruition next year. On that crisply frosty Christmas in Kyiv, I made a wish to receive an offer and a scholarship. How little did I know that my whole world was about to come undone pretty soon.

Christmas 2021 in Kyiv, before the invasion

In the early hours of the 24th of February, I was awoken by the window panes thudding in my room: the missiles were hitting my hometown. As I had been working as a journalist, my family and I had to flee the city in an instant as journalists were on the Russian security services’ hit lists. Sitting in a musty cellar in a country cottage house, I was more than fortunate to avoid being stuck in Kyiv. My friends and colleagues had to pack all of their lifetime in a rucksack and seek refuge from the missiles in the underground stations. 

For seven days a week, our newsroom was covering the ghastly staples of war newsfeeds. Those months were the darkest moment of my life, when in the damp and cold cellar, hiding from the air raids I pondered how little I had achieved in my life. 

After months of excruciatingly taxing work for days on end, one morning I checked my mailbox. To my biggest surprise, I received emails with an offer to study in Oxford and an invitation for an interview with the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust. It came as a fateful deliverance to be given this life-changing opportunity… I have a strong commitment to excel in the Leadership programme learning from outstanding, talented people from across the globe as well as sharing my own experience. Similarly, it is an immense honour to join a cohort of 144 policy-makers with a profound sense of passion for better governance and better public service. Studying at Oxford requires lots of exertion, stamina, and commitment, but the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann scholarship and Lincoln College helped me feel particularly at home here.

Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust scholars at matriculation

Denys at Oxford

Now, as the war in Ukraine is still rumbling on, I would like to reiterate what a pivotal impact such a scholarship as the WHT can have on the lives of young people. Young, ambitious leaders in war-torn countries need even more support and tailored assistance. They have to leave their loved ones behind and focus on their studies while back at home the constant danger of missile attacks sours the daily lives of their family and friends. 

I mark this day with sorrow and pain thinking about all those young Ukrainians whose life ambitions and chances were crushed by a brutal and unprovoked war.