“Freie Universität Berlin strongly condemns the Russian government’s war of aggression on Ukraine. We stand with the Ukrainian people. Freie Universität Berlin does not and will never discriminate against people based on their heritage or where they come from. We firmly oppose any defamation or attacks against Russian and Belarusian members of our university”.

Freie Universität Berlin has decided to suspend relations with scientific and academic institutions in Russia in response to the Russian attack on Ukraine. This includes student exchange programs as well as its strategic partnership with St. Petersburg University. Freie Universität’s Liaison Office in Moscow will also close for the time being.

Many of our students are involved in volunteer initiatives and help Ukrainian refugees arriving in Berlin. We express our gratitude for the work they are doing!

However, we would like to pay special tribute to the courageous work of our student Anastasia Magazova, who is currently in Ukraine writing about the war for the German media taz in German and Russian. In addition, Anastasia posts updates and insights about the war on her Twitter profile. We thank Anastasia for her courage and her work and are very proud of her!

As part of the Ukraine selection, our Media Library collects documentaries and feature films that have been released in the wake of the Russian war of aggression by Ukrainian and other Central and Eastern European filmmakers, international film festivals, and film institutions via free online streaming.

This film series is organized in cooperation between the Mediothek of the Institute for East European Studies of Freie Universität Berlin and the Ukrainian Film Festival Berlin (UFFB). The series brings together three films by Ukrainian filmmakers that mark contemporary Ukrainian cinema in the context of the war with Russia, which has been going on for the last eight years.

With this film series, we would like to directly support the filmmakers in Ukraine. The ticket proceeds will be donated to our colleagues at the Docudays UA film festival.  

International students seeking advice who have general questions about studying at FU Berlin, application, admission, etc., can contact this desk, which is expected to be staffed until the end of October, during SSC opening hours (Mon-Thurs 9:00-17:00 and Fri 9:00-15:00). There are Ukrainian FUB students assigned there who can provide information in Ukrainian, Russian, German and English.

The OEI provided bridging fellowships to endangered scientists from Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. The fellowships were in great demand and are now all taken. We will introduce our scholars in the next newsletter. Dr. Olga Ryabchenko from Ukraine is already working at OEI under the scholarship.

The war is developing quickly and unpredictably, but we try to stay informed ourselves and keep you updated. On our Twitter, we share with you information about themed events and interviews with our staff.