Throughout 2025, the Office for the Affairs of Veterans and Their Families at Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) coordinated work with veterans, active-duty service members, and their families within the university community. As they return to civilian life, our defenders demonstrate unique experience, strength of spirit, and a desire to change the world for the better. The university’s mission is to provide an environment in which they feel understanding, support, and inspiration to realize their potential.

Participants in UCU’s veterans’ program

Educational Opportunities

The university offers certificate programs through the School of Integral Development, with special terms for veterans and service members. Thanks to donor support, participants are eligible for a discount, paying 20% of the full tuition fee.

Currently, UCU offers two certificate programs created specifically for veterans: “Veteran Leadership” and “School of Resilience for Veteran Business.” Plans also include continuing enrollment in the programs “Entrepreneurship for Veterans” and “Peer-to-Peer.”

Participants in UCU’s veterans’ program

The following online courses are available through “UCU Online”:
• Financial Tactics
• First Steps in IT
• Returning from War: Body, Mind, Society

English-Language Clubs for Service Members and Their Families

In November, the Office for the Affairs of Veterans and Their Families launched English-language conversation clubs with native speakers. These meetings are designed to support people with wartime experience, facilitate their integration into civilian life, and expand opportunities for personal and professional development through learning English.

English-language club

In the near future, organizers plan to launch online conversation clubs for active-duty service members. All details and updates regarding English-language courses will be published on the website of the Office for the Affairs of Veterans and Their Families.

Counseling and Support

An important area of work is counseling and support for veterans within the UCU community, as well as collaboration with faculty, staff, and students to establish effective communication between them and veterans.

The Legal Clinic is a project of students and faculty of UCU’s Faculty of Law that provides legal assistance to service members, veterans, and civilians affected by Russia’s war against Ukraine. Since its establishment, the Legal Clinic has processed more than 5,000 requests.

The UCU Medical Clinic is a medical center offering a modern approach to therapy and a new culture of communication and interaction with patients, based on a partnership between physician and patient. One of the clinic’s key missions is to heal the wounds of war. In 2025, under the “Veteran+” program, 240 veterans and their family members received comprehensive assistance free of charge, made possible through donor support.

The Psychological Counseling Center is a joint project of faculty members from the Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy of UCU’s Faculty of Health Sciences and master’s students. Its goal is to ensure free access to psychological support for the university community. The center operates entirely on a volunteer basis. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the UCU Counseling Center has focused on working with military personnel.

Spiritual Care

The Dean’s Office for Pastoral Affairs provides ongoing spiritual support to service members and veterans.

In the summer of 2025, the Office for the Affairs of Veterans and Their Families piloted a new format for shared leisure and community building—a trip to the Carpathian Mountains. Participants enjoyed active recreation, spiritual gatherings, and workshops.

Related Events

Throughout 2025, the Office’s team organized or co-organized more than 30 events, including:
• the play-in-the-dark “Kosmotato” for the UCU community and as part of BookForumLviv
• a book presentation by Hlib Bitiukov, a graduate of UCU’s School of Public Management and Administration, “To My Daughter: A Father’s Notes from the War”
• a screening of the film “People the Color of Freedom” about life under occupation
• a lecture during UCU Days: “Social Responsibility: National Landmarks of a Culture of Remembrance”
• a roundtable with Myroslav Marynovych, “Interaction Between the Military and Civilians: A New Paradigm of Ukrainian Society”
• a screening of “Lifting Force” with Archbishop Borys Gudziak and Hero of Ukraine Mykola Liubarets
• a roundtable “Implementing Veteran Policy in Higher Educational Institutions of Lviv”
• a meeting with the cultural outreach group and Kolya Serha
• participation in a panel discussion at the forum “Veteran Business Support Program” by IOM and Startup Ukraine
• participation of Office representatives in a strategic session on national memory policy with the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory
• a blood donation drive “Donation” for the military on the UCU campus
• a screening of “2000 Meters to Andriivka” followed by a thematic discussion
• a presentation of the book “Returning to the Ranks” at Superhumans, about the rehabilitation of service members after loss of a limb

Sharing Experience and Knowledge

UCU staff continue to take the internal course “Veterans in the Community,” designed to foster understanding of the veteran’s path after returning to civilian life.

In August 2025, Andrii Kaspshyshak, Head of the Office, served as an expert for Forbes, assessing veteran policies of large Ukrainian businesses and their readiness to reintegrate veterans into the workforce.

Outreach and Training

Exchange of experience

The Office periodically conducts offline training for businesses, organizations, and communities on veterans’ issues and post-service adaptation to civilian employment.

For example, one recent event was held for the European Business Association (EBA). A short training—“Interacting with Veterans and Their Family Members in the Workplace”—was delivered for the HR Management Committee team of EVA.

The goal of such meetings is to deepen understanding of veterans’ and their families’ specific needs and to equip HR professionals and leaders with practical tools for appropriate communication.

At the initiative of Ukrainian Catholic University, cooperation has begun among veterans’ centers at various Ukrainian universities, including Lviv Polytechnic National University, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ivan Boberskyi Lviv State University of Physical Culture, and Stepan Gzhytskyi National University of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnologies of Lviv. UCU also continues work on veteran policy together with the Alliance of Ukrainian Universities, which includes the Kyiv School of Economics, Sumy State University, Yurii Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, National University of Water and Environmental Engineering, Dnipro University of Technology, and Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

Commemoration Initiatives

During the full-scale war, the UCU community has lost 36 warriors—our students, alumni, staff, friends, and colleagues. Honoring the memory of each hero is an integral part of our life.

UCU students at the Field of Honored Burials

On August 29, the Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of Ukraine, UCU joined the nationwide “Table of Memory” initiative. On that day, one table in the Refectory and cafeterias was reserved in memory of the fallen Heroes.

This year, the UCU Collegium team also organized a visit to the Field of Honored Burials in Lviv with staff and students.

International Partnerships

In 2025, the Office for the Affairs of Veterans and Their Families actively developed international partnerships, studying the experience of countries that have already undergone a long journey of working with veterans after wars and peacekeeping missions. For UCU, not only successful support models are important, but also live dialogue, exchange of experience, and the formation of long-term partnerships.

Days with Vietnam War Veterans (USA)

UCU hosted meetings with U.S. Vietnam War veterans who are now successful businesspeople and politicians. Among the guests was David Bonior, former U.S. Representative from Michigan and one of the most prominent American politicians of Ukrainian descent. Participants discussed the Office’s work, current needs and challenges in supporting veterans in Ukraine, and learned from the American experience, including the creation of veterans’ organizations, post-war resocialization, and the role of veterans in U.S. public and political life.

Visit to Sweden

The Office took part in a gathering of veterans’ homes organized by Soldathemsförbundet Svenska, an organization founded in 1976 that now unites 25 offices across the country. Participants exchanged experience in creating veteran spaces, discussed security challenges, social support for veterans, and models of cooperation with communities. Today, Sweden has about 56,000 veterans who participated in peacekeeping missions, and the approaches developed there are a valuable source of knowledge for the Ukrainian context.

The visit resulted in identifying several areas for joint initiatives that the Office team plans to implement together with Swedish partners in 2026.