Ukrainian-Israeli Earns Masters Degree While Evading Draft

Prof. Hanna Lerner & Kirill Drik (TAU)

Kirill Drik, a Jewish Ukrainian who immigrated to Israel and served in the IDF has completed a master’s degree in the School of Political Science, Government, and International Affairs at Tel Aviv University which he worked on remotely while hiding in a bunker in Ukraine for ten months. Kirill, who moved to Israel in 2017, was visiting his family there when Russia invaded the country in February 2022.

Kirill Drik worked on his master’s degree while hiding. But he was not just hiding from Russian bombs. A veteran of an IDF commando unit, Krill was also in hiding from Ukrainian authorities because he evaded the draft there. In spite of his combat military experience gained in Israel, he refused to serve his native land in its hour of need, even when other Ukrainian-Israelis traveled back to their county of birth to help in the fight.

So, some might say that Tel Aviv University aided and abetted a draft dodger.

But the university sees it differently, saying that Kirill Drik had an “unbelievable experience” of hiding in a “deserted and dark bunker, surrounded by the sounds of explosions, rats and an evil smell. Fortunately, his partner made sure to bring him food every day.”

Although there was hardly any active internet in the bunker, he continued his studies on Zoom, with the help of the University’s Coordinator of Advanced Degrees, the Head of the School, and the entire teaching staff, all working towards the task, “Completion of Kirill Drik’s degree.”

Kirill Drik also seems to think that his story is one of heroics and not cowardice.

“During the war in Ukraine, the biggest difficulty for me was to write and meet the course completion assignments,” Kirill said. “The bunker I lived in in the city of Dnipro was a dark, abandoned shelter with only a small night lamp. There was hardly any internet, there was a terrible smell of sewage, the rats were walking between my legs, and in the background, I constantly heard the echoes of explosions.

During a semester break in February 2022, Kirill Drik went to visit his parents in Dnipro, in eastern Ukraine. During his stay, his mother fell ill, was hospitalized, and Kirill had to extend his vacation by five days until February 25th. The day before his flight back to Israel war broke out between Russia and Ukraine, and Kirill, who has dual citizenship (Israeli and Ukrainian), was unable to leave the country, due to the obligation of all citizens to enlist in the army.

On this Kirill said, “After the war broke out the Ukrainian army announced that everyone was being recruited to fight, and I had no choice but to run away and hide in a bunker for ten months, and my partner would bring me food and basic necessities every day.”

“No choice?” But he did have a choice. He could have served in the fight to defend Ukraine.

Krill said he had four failed attempts to “escape” Ukraine. But after ten months Tel Aviv University in cooperation with the Lowy International School, managed to arrange for him to acquire the needed documents in order for Krill to leave Ukraine and return to Israel.

Kirill Dirk said of all of this, “When I received my degree I felt that I had finally returned to my homeland. I feel that my homeland is Israel and not Ukraine. People here are children of God. The help I received turned Israel into my family. I am happy that I survived those ten months in Ukraine, during which time I fulfilled my dream to get a master’s degree in political science in Israel, and most of all I am happy that everything I did was not in vain. I know that for the rest of my life I will never stop being thankful for everything Tel Aviv University has done for me. I am sure we will meet again when I pursue my Ph.D.”