“If I Had Not Been Slightly Late, I Would Have Been Where the Missile Hit”: Rector of Taras Shevchenko National University Shared His Story With the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation

From the very first hours of the full-scale invasion, Volodymyr Bugrov, rector of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, had to address a number of challenging issues. He himself did not come under the missile attack in the capital’s centre, when the university’s Red and Yellow buildings were affected, only thanks to... his wrinkled suit. Volodymyr Bugrov shared his story with the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

Mr Bugrov confesses that he actually slept through the beginning of the full-scale war. Their house is located in such a way that the first explosions were not heard there. He found out about the trouble after a call from his friend and immediately went to work.

“First of all, we dealt with organizing an additional supply of food and water for students and employees. It is an illusion that the university is closed, as even during a duty shift, there are about 20 people in the building,” says Volodymyr Bugrov.

The knowledge and experience of every staff member who was at the university at the most difficult moment came in handy. For example, in the past, the rector himself had served in military construction units, and so he took on the task of providing the university with fuel and oil. A colleague of his suggested that security for the server room should be organized.

“The university has been active for 189 years, and the archives for the last 75 years are being maintained. This is a huge amount of paper documents. We have digitized what we could since a long time ago. That is why, seizure or destruction of the servers would put down a large database,” says Mr Bugrov.

For quite a long time, the rector has changed his classic suit to more comfortable clothes, more suitable for the martial law. Once he got into a curious situation because of it, and another time it saved his life.

“An official event was supposed to take place on 10 October 2022. My wife said, “Put on a suit.” She was ironing it, and because of that I was delayed for 10 minutes. If I had not been slightly late, I would have been right in the centre, at the crossing of Volodymyrska and Tolstogo Streets, near the place where the missile landed,” recalls Volodymyr Bugrov.

Mr Bugrov also talks about passing checkpoints in Kyiv, some curious incidents during the terrible events, about help from the university to the military, and the most effective safeguard against the unpunished evil. His story is available at the link https://bit.ly/49m2D72 

Every war story matters. To keep the memory for a better future, share your story on the portal of the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation https://civilvoicesmuseum.org/ or via the toll-free hotline 0 (800) 509 001.