Student protests erupted in Kyiv at the beginning of 2022. Students demanded the resignation of the Minister of Education. Serhiy ShkarletRepresentatives of the National Aviation University (NAU) marched in a separate column, dissatisfied with the management methods of their university's rector Maksym Lutskyi.

In particular, there is the possibility of building two 25-story residential buildings on the university grounds, the poor condition of the dormitories, and repression against student government leaders.

Ksenia Semenova, a graduate and postgraduate student of NAU, actively participated in the protests. In two years, she became the acting rector of her university. And in August 2025, she was elected president of the Kyiv Aviation Institute (the current name of NAU) in an independent competition.

LIGA.net I spoke with the newly elected president about how she is reorganizing the educational institution into the first defense tech university in Ukraine.

This is the third interview in a series of conversations with leaders of leading higher education institutions in Ukraine. The previous ones were with the honorary president of the Kyiv School of Economics by Timofiy Milovanov and the President of the National University of Kyiv-Kyiv Academy of Management By Serhiy Kvit.

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