Priama Diia was re-founded in February 2023. Can you tell us about the situation of your union. Are you present in many universities?

At the moment, we have more than 150 members in different cities in Ukraine, mainly in Lviv and Kyiv. It is in these cities that we are most active, including through demonstrations. In Lviv, we are present in three universities, namely the Lviv National University, the Lviv National Agricultural University and the Lviv Polytechnic University. In Kyiv, we are more numerous and cover the following universities: KNU, KPI, NaUKMA, and more recently NAOMA. In both Lviv and Kyiv, we are generally present in all major universities.

Your organisation has held two conferences. At your last conference, you decided to improve internal organisation. Can you tell us about it?

At the last conference, we adopted a new structure because we were tired of the chaos that reigned within the union. Before, everything worked on the basis of initiative, with no accountability, no reporting, etc. This may have worked for a while, but as the union grew, it became clear that we needed people to be responsible for certain things, such as finances or media. We created elected positions – coordinators of different departments, whose main task is to organise activities and report on them. Of course, as we don’t really like the representative system, these posts are only intended to coordinate, but not to make decisions for others, which means that the coordinators must always make their decisions with the people concerned within their working group, which can include any member of the union. More than six months have passed and I can say that it is a good system, because there is active work in the departments and no unilateral decisions. This contempt for unilateral decisions is due to two things: 1) we don’t like the representative system as an imitation of democracy 2) the union includes people with very diverse political views, ranging from the apolitical to radical anarcho-Marxists, and therefore a unilateral decision by someone can lead to a wave of indignation, for example, in the case of a strange publication by the media department.

In 2024, Priama Diia activists were attacked several times by the far right. Can you tell us about the presence of the far right in universities? Have you experienced any other problems since then?

There have been beatings in Kyiv and on several other occasions, and it is a fairly serious problem that prevents us from working actively in the streets and at the university. In Lviv, the situation is a little better, despite Lviv being perceived as a “bastion of right-wing radicals”, we have not generally had violent clashes with the far right, although they have come to our demonstrations and events, written requests to the administration to refuse us premises, and so on, but it’s more of an unpleasant itch than a real problem. There was a funny incident when we were handing out leaflets and a right-wing student took a leaflet, tore it up aggressively and threw it in the bin, but his friends started laughing at him because they didn’t understand why he was so angry with the leaflet. In general, if you don’t provoke them, if you do ’social’ things, you hardly notice them. The far right is not at all interested in the struggle for dormitories or canteens, but it appears here and there when it comes to progressive issues, on LGBTQIA+, for example. It is also necessary to understand who is on the far right: they are not always healthy, pumped-up men, but often schoolchildren or first-year students with strange ideas about the Aryan race.

In the last period, Priama Diia has organised struggles on the issue of necessary repairs in universities for students. What is your assessment of these struggles?

I understand why you are talking about repairs in the dormitories. It is a widespread problem, many dormitories are in a catastrophic state: cockroaches, dilapidated pipes and windows, no hot water, mould, etc. The conditions are almost like those of a prison, even if it is very cheap. It is too early to talk about results, because the fight is still going on, but, for example, at LNU, a number of students reported that repairs in their blocks had indeed been speeded up after our action, but we have not yet managed to create a mass movement. On the contrary, in Kyiv, at the National Academy of Arts and Sciences, the demonstration was supported by many students living in dormitories, and we can already speak of success, because we managed to win the hearts of many students by organising a demonstration around these social issues.

You have also been active on the issue of harassment. On 8 March, Priama Diia mobilised for Women’s Rights Day. Can you tell us about this feminist commitment?

Ukraine is a fairly conservative country in many respects, and cases of harassment and sexual violence are very common, including at university, for example, to obtain good grades or pass an exam. And since the university is a bureaucratic structure where no one likes to make waves, these cases are generally ignored, even though everyone knows they exist. In such circumstances, our task is not to remain silent, but to bring all these cases to light, to demand investigations and to fight against the perpetrators. In addition, there is an anti-discrimination department within the union to make women feel comfortable and safe, and it also deals with complaints of discrimination in universities.

The government has decided to introduce military training for students. In Western Europe, I think that student unions would be opposed to this because of their “anti-militarist” sentiment. What is Priama Diia’s position on this training?

The union does not have a clear position on this issue, some consider it a form of discrimination, while others see it as an opportunity to acquire new skills and overcome the division of labour. I belong to the latter category, but I think that if such courses are introduced, they should be of high quality in order to provide real knowledge and skills, and not just a “box to be ticked” to be sent to the army.

You also organise cultural activities: film clubs and talks on books or specific subjects. What is the purpose of these activities for you?

The aim is to involve students at a time when there is no particular union campaign. For the moment, we can say that we have achieved this objective, even if the people who join the cultural events and the film club are not very interested in activism or politics. On the other hand, these events bring together former members of the union and allow them to spend time together, which is a good thing.

Can you tell us about the international student network Universities at War, of which you are a member?

We receive useful information from our colleagues in different countries, their research and theoretical work, which motivates us to work. In addition, we support each other, as is the case with Jagiellonian University (Poland) [1]

In numerous statements, Priama Diia has affirmed its support for student struggles in other countries: Chile, Greece, Iran, Georgia... On 27 December 2024, you were the first to publish the letter from students in Serbia describing the self-organised movement of Serbian students.More recently, you expressed your solidarity with American students against Trump’s policy of destroying universities. You live in a country at war. You face enormous difficulties. Why express internationalist solidarity with other students and pay attention to struggles in other countries?

It is important for at least two reasons. First, we show our students how students are fighting abroad, which motivates us. Second, it is a question of solidarity, because today they are in difficulty, and tomorrow we will be, so we must stick together.

You also have a special bond with the Polish students from the Inicjatywa Pracownicza union, who are also fighting on the issue of university dormitories. Can you tell us about your relationship?

We stay in close contact, even on a personal level: many of our members have become friends, despite the language barrier. This allows us to share our experiences, ask questions and give each other advice. It is very important for us to get to know each other, because in many ways we are following in their footsteps, and by having close contact, we can benefit from it for our campaigns, which is very important.

Finally, a difficult question that I ask all my Ukrainian interlocutors. How do you see Ukraine’s future?

Everything will get worse and worse. I won’t go into details, but in my opinion there is no hope for a good future for Ukraine in the coming years or even decades, unless a progressive political force emerges that is capable of uniting a people torn apart by various contradictions. Our union may be the first step in the formation of such a movement, but there is still a lot of work to be done for the left in Ukraine, so for the moment, my outlook is rather pessimistic.

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Ihor Vasyletsn

Interview by Patrick Le Tréhondat

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