Yes. Ukrainian universities are open and are still admitting international students. But “open” does not mean the same thing everywhere, and the honest answer to this question is more useful than a reassuring one.
Universities are teaching and the official admission process is running. What varies — by university and by city — is how teaching is delivered: fully in person, blended, or entirely online. That is the question worth asking before you apply anywhere.
What “open” actually means in practice
Ukrainian universities describe their teaching in three broad formats, and several offer more than one:
| Format | What it means |
|---|---|
| Full-time (offline) | Teaching on campus, in person, as before |
| Blended / mixed | A combination of on-campus and remote teaching |
| Distance (online) | Taught remotely, without being on campus |
This matters more than it first appears. For a medical degree in particular, the part that cannot be delivered online is clinical rotation — the hospital work. If you are considering medicine, that is the specific thing to ask about, not the format of the course as a whole.
What individual universities say
These are statements from the universities’ own materials, on the profiles we publish. They differ from one another, which is the point.
- Ternopil National Medical University
- States that international students currently choose between studying fully online or offline.
- Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv
- States that Ukrainian education has adapted to distance and mixed formats. Its main site carried a notice in September 2026 about transitioning to a mixed form of education.
- Kharkiv National Medical University
- Many university buildings were heavily damaged in March 2022. The university states it now delivers education in distance, blended and full-time formats, and published academic work describes the educational process being organised around electronic courses, with graduate certification conducted remotely.
Three universities, three different answers. Any page that tells you Ukrainian universities are simply “open as normal” is not describing the same country these universities are.
Where the university is matters
Ukraine is a large country and the situation is not uniform across it.
Kharkiv, for example, is close to the north-eastern border, and its universities were directly affected in 2022. Kyiv is far from the front line and functions as a capital city, but is still subject to air raids. Cities in the west, such as Ternopil, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk, are further from the fighting again.
We are an admissions consultancy, not a security authority, and we will not tell you a place is safe. Read your own government’s current travel advice for Ukraine before you make a decision, and ask the university directly, in writing, what format your specific programme and year of study will be taught in.
Those two things will tell you more than any agency page, including this one.
The admission process is running
Separately from teaching, the official route into a Ukrainian university is operating.
Applications still go through the Ukrainian admission system: a university issues an official invitation to study, which is registered with the Ministry of Education and Science, and that invitation is what makes a student visa application possible. The official invitation is valid for six months from issue.
- Invitation to study
- Issued by the university, registered centrally, valid 6 months
- Student visa
- A Type D long-term visa, applied for at the Ukrainian embassy or consulate serving your country
- Documents
- Prior education documents must be legalised or apostilled and translated
Our guide to invitation letters sets out how the invitation is issued and registered, and the student visa requirements guide covers legalisation, translation and the financial-means requirement.
Questions worth asking a university before you commit
- Will my programme be taught full-time, blended, or online in my first year?
- Will that change in later years?
- If I am studying medicine, how and where are clinical rotations delivered?
- What happens to my studies if the format changes after I enrol?
- Will my degree certificate note the format in which it was taught?
That last one is worth asking for a reason. Whether a period of remote study affects recognition is decided by the licensing or recognition authority in the country where you intend to work — not by the university, and not by us. If you plan to practise in a regulated profession, put that question to your own regulator in writing before you apply.
Where to go next
If you are comparing institutions, our guide to medical universities in Ukraine sets out what actually separates them, including how long each has taught international students. Our university directory lists every university we can help you apply to, grouped by city.
If you want a straight answer about a specific university and programme, ask us and we will get it in writing from the university or tell you plainly that we could not.