The second stage of the project "Security specialist in the educational environment" continued in Lviv State University of Internal Affairs for a month. It was attended by 25 participants from 13 regions of Ukraine.

Training of specialists took place within the framework of the initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Inna Yashchuk, Director of the Department of Education, Science and Sports of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, addressed the audience with a welcoming speech. "For the second time, we have trained specialists within the framework of the pilot project of the Ministry of Internal Affairs "Safety Educator". Its goal is to create a safe educational environment for children, improve partnership and communication with the police, rescuers, educational institutions, parents and pupils government. I congratulate you on passing this important stage and believe that you will apply the new experience in your communities," Inna Yashchuk said.

She expressed her gratitude to the LvSUIA team for realization of all parts of the project and creating comfortable atmosphere for training future security specialists.

The next speaker was Taras Sozanskyi, First Vice-Rector of Lviv State University of Internal Affair. He passed the greeting from the Rector of the university Roman Blahuta to the participants and thanked them for their active involvement in the project.

The Chief of the Department of Regional Policy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Vitaliy Zahainyi, said that maintaining security at the level of territorial communities is one of the main tasks that the state is facing today. "You face a difficult challenge; gaining experience and establishing communications you have to return to your communities and implement your ideas and take care of the safety of the educational environment," Vitaliy Zahainyi emphasized.

At the end of the event, all participants were ceremoniously presented with certificates of completion of their training. 

Today, the practical seminar "Human trafficking: prevention, counteraction and interdepartmental cooperation" has begun at Lviv State University of Internal Affairs. Employees of the Police, Prosecutor's Office, and the State Border Service of Ukraine have been taking part in it. Representatives of other regions also have joined the event using the ZOOM platform.

LvSUIA is presented at the event by Larysa Brych, Head of the Research Laboratory, and Olena Herasymiv, Assistant Professor at the Department of Criminal Procedure and Criminalistics.

Specialists of the European Union Advisory Mission (EUAM) Ukraine are the main speakers at the training. They are Gediminas Buciunas, EUAM Senior Adviser on Prosecution, Jukka Larkio, Trainer on Criminal Investigations, and Aymar Koss, EUAM Senior Adviser on Integrated Border Management.

"Such a social phenomenon as human trafficking or "21st century slavery" has existed since ancient times. Unfortunately, we still face it, but we are trying to fight it. Today, my colleagues and I are updating this topic once again and we will be happy to share our own work experience in the area of counteracting this phenomenon," Senior Adviser on Prosecution Gediminas Buciunas said.

Then his colleague, Trainer on Criminal Investigations Jukka Larkio, introduced himself. He spoke about his professional development and work at the Helsinki Police Department.

Aymar Koss, Senior Adviser on Integrated Border Management, also addressed the audience.

For better communication, Gediminas Buciunas offered the training participants to introduce themselves and talk about their experience in combating human trafficking and share their expectations from the event.

He focused on different ways of the "human trafficking" concept and emphasized that the best way is to define it as "a type of activity when a person's freedom is stolen for the purpose of making a profit."

During the seminar, Gediminas Buciunas also mentioned the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which Ukraine ratified in 2004. The purpose of this legal document is to promote cooperation in the effective prevention and fight against transnational organized crime.

The specialist also shared with the participants his own experience in combating organized crime. 

This year, young people from nine higher education institutions joined the discussion of topics that most concern the Ukrainian society. Young scientists shared their thoughts on how Russia's armed aggression affected each of us. How Ukrainians had been changed and whether they were ready for the challenges caused by the war; all together looked for answers to these questions.

The scientific event was held under the title "Mechanism of civil society functioning under war conditions (autumn readings)". The event took place in a hybrid format.

Prior to the plenary session, Olha Balynska, LvSUIA Vice-Rector, addressed all the participants with a welcome speech. She noted that such an all-Ukrainian scientific conference is traditionally held at Lviv State University of Internal Affairs. Young scientists from different parts of our country join the conference.

She also congratulated the youth on International Students' Day and wished them perseverance in acquiring knowledge.

The work of the conference was carried out in several directions. The participants discussed the latest challenges and problems of human rights protection under war conditions, shared opinions about current issues of administrative law and process.

Besides that, criminal-legal, criminological, criminal-procedural and criminological issues of combating crime under martial law were discussed. Young researchers also raised the issue of transformation of private law in the context of European integration. They also discussed social sciences about threats to modern Ukraine and ways to overcome them.

As a result of the conference, an electronic collection of abstracts of the reports will be published.

The university students once again proved that they belong to the cohort of the best. Five LvSUIA representatives became prize winners of this year's championship of the FSA"Dynamo" in Lviv region.

Danylo Vyshynskyi won "gold" in his weight category. Vasyl Slavytiak, Pavlo Stadnik and Vladyslav Voroniuk took the second place, and Bohdan Lytvyn took the third place.

As a result, the team of the Lviv State University of Internal Affairs took the second place as a team.

Mykola Kostovskyi and Mykhailo Dominyuk, teachers of the Department of Special Physical Training of Faculty No. 2, prepared the sportsmen for the championship.

We congratulate the university team on another achievement, we wish the sportsmen strength, effort and new victories!

On the occasion of the Student's Day, the Charitable Foundation "With an Angel on the Shoulder" called on the youth of Lviv to become blood donors. Cadets of Lviv State University of Internal Affairs also joined the action.

More than 30 cadets of the university became donors. Among those who supported the initiative is Rostyslav Muliar, a fourth-year student. He said that this is not the first time he participates in such a volunteer action.

"There is always a need for donor blood. It helps save our defenders' lives. We regularly donate blood for those who need it," said Rostyslav Muliar.

This time, the youth of the university helped the wounded soldiers.

In the end, the cadets tied ribbons on the symbolic "Tree of Life" to encourage everyone who cares to support the charitable initiative.

It should be noted that everyone who has reached adulthood and does not have chronic diseases can become a donor. You should prepare for the procedure: 24 hours before the donation, you should not drink alcohol, and for 12 hours, you should give up fried, fatty and dairy foods.

 The informational and educational marathon "Protection of children's rights in wartime; frankly about the current issues" took place at the initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

The online meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and MIA universities from Lviv, Donetsk and Odessa.

The participants of the marathon considered the issues of protection of children's rights in today's contex. In particular, they discussed possible violations of children's rights who were forcibly moved to safer regions or outside Ukraine. They also emphasized the fact that minors die and are injured as a result of the war.

In addition, the participants discussed the actions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs aimed at ensuring children's rights and creating a safe environment for them.

"Ukraine is the only one, together we are invincible!" - under such slogan, a charity race was held in LvSUIA. It was held in support of the temporarily occupied territories of our country. All participants of the action tied up blue and yellow ribbons as a sign of solidarity with the brave people who, despite the terror and intimidation of the russian aggressors, are not afraid to express their pro-Ukrainian position.

Such a patriotic flashmob was initiated by the cadets of the Kherson faculty of OSUIA.

Everyone may join the action. To do this, you need to run any distance with a blue-yellow ribbon on your wrist and post a photo or video with the hashtag #DeoccupationUA on social networks.

The cadets and students of the university joined the charity flash mob at #ЛьвДУВС.

After the race, they passed the baton to Donetsk State University of Internal Affairs.

We believe that our defenders will liberate the Ukrainian land from the enemy step by step. And over every city, town and village that is currently under occupation, a blue-yellow flag will raise soon! 

Lviv State University of Internal Affairs held a meeting with representatives of the Criminal Analysis Department of the Lviv Region Police. They told about the tasks performed by this service, and also shared interesting case studies from their practice. The methodological approach and organization of criminal analysis were also discussed during the event.

"Given the rapid pace of digitization in Ukraine, there was a need for new methods of collecting, evaluating and analyzing information that would help law enforcement officers in solving crimes. Therefore, in 2016, a criminal analysis department was established on the basis of the Information Support Management Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This unit performed the function of administrative support for the "102" line. And in 2020, the Criminal Analysis Department was created within the structure of the National Police, which brought together experienced practitioners from various services. Later, relevant units appeared in region as well," Natalia Khyzhnyak, Deputy Head of the Criminal Analysis Department at the Lviv Region Police, told the audience.

She noted that the structure of this unit has two departments – of analytical work and operational accounting. Employees of the first are engaged in search and information activities and carry out informational and analytical support during the investigation of criminal proceedings, as well as within the framework of operative and investigative cases. Their colleagues from the operational accounting department form, accumulate and analyze operational data.

She said that in their work, employees of this unit use open sources, departmental databases, as well as operational information. All this helps law enforcement officers quickly and efficiently solve even the most complex crimes.

The cadets learned about cases when it was due to the professional work of criminal analysts managed to identify and detain dangerous criminals.

At the end of the meeting, senior colleagues answered all the cadets' questions. 

 For the second week in a row, representatives of territorial communities from 13 regions of Ukraine are being trained within the framework of the "Security Specialist in the Educational Environment" project.

Training takes place in the form of binary classes, which are conducted by research and pedagogical employees of LvSUIA together with invited practitioners. Representatives of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the Training and Methodological Center for Civil Protection of Life Safety in Lviv Region, the 6th Anti-Corruption Department of the Strategic Investigations Department of Lviv Region, and specialists from Lviv State University of Life Safety have already shared their experience with the project participants.

And recently, employees of the KORD special forces unit of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Lviv region joined the training. They told the audience about the peculiarities of their profession and the difficulties they face during their work.

Project participants note that the training program is very rich and interesting.

In general, the course consists of twelve modules that cover questions in different fields of knowledge. Representatives of territorial communities will learn the basics of gender equality, communicative competence, and anti-corruption legislation.

Future specialists will also learn how to act in crisis situations, learn about the psychological characteristics of children's age. The course program also includes the basics of national security and patriotic education, organizational and legal principles of security formation in the educational environment. Separate modules will deal with administrative, criminal and civil liability of minors.

As a reminder, the project provides the training of 25 specialists who will become a kind of communicators between local self-government bodies, police, rescuers, educators, students and parents.

The training will last until November 25.

Today Lviv State University of Internal Affairs hosted a presentation of the Comprehensive Prevention Program of interdepartmental cooperation in the area of combating human trafficking. The document was developed within the framework of the cooperation agreement concluded last year between LvSUIA, the Department of Migration Police of the National Police of Ukraine and the Department of Social Protection of the Population of the Lviv Regional State Administration.

The program is planned to be implemented within 2023-2025. Its main tasks are to increase the level of professional training of migration police officers, to establish interaction between all subjects of combating human trafficking, as well as to conduct an information campaign among the population.

LvSUIA Rector Roman Blahuta noted that the idea of creating such a program arose due to the well-established cooperation between the University, the Migration Police and the Lviv Regional State Administration.

Serhiy Sotnikov, Deputy Head of the Migration Police Department of the NPU, emphasized the importance of further cooperation and expressed his gratitude to the university staff for developing a program of interagency cooperation.

The Comprehensive Prevention Program of interdepartmental cooperation was presented by one of its developers, Head of LvSUIA Research Laboratory Larysa Brych. She said that this document consists of six sections that cover different areas of interaction. In particular, measures to improve the qualifications of law enforcement officers, development and amendments to legislation in the field of combating human trafficking.

She noted that the interdepartmental program developed by the scientists of LvSUIA can become part of the implementation of the national policy in the field of combating human trafficking. 

Today, the second stage of the "Security Specialist in the Educational Environment" project has been launched at the Lviv State University of Internal Affairs. It provides for the training of 25 specialists. This time, participants from 13 regions of Ukraine are going to participate in the training. These are representatives of territorial communities from Chernihiv region, Odesa region, Mykolaiv region, Poltava region, Dnipropetrovsk region, Kirovohrad region, Cherkasy region, Vinnytsia region, Rivne region, Ternopil region, Lviv region, Transcarpathia and Volyn.

Kateryna Pavlichenko, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine has welcome the project participants. She emphasized that the formation of a safe educational environment is a priority area of activity of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the training of such specialists is carried out within the framework of the large-scale project "Safe Childhood".

"I would like to thank all those who has joined this initiative. There are four weeks of training ahead. I hope that after its completion, the participants will gain new knowledge and useful skills that will help improve the security situation in the educational environment," Kateryna Pavlichenko emphasized.

Roman Blahuta, LvSUIA Rector, also greeted the future security educators. "Our best specialists will be involved in the implementation of this interesting and very necessary project. The training will also be conducted by representatives of the National Police, the State Emergency Service, the State Migration Service and the Lviv Regional Military Administration. So, during the course, you will get a lot of practical experience that you can share in your communities," the Rector of the university said.

Vasyl Bohdan, Chief of the Juvenile Prevention department of the National Police of Ukraine, noted that safety educators will become a kind of "bridge" between the administrations of educational institutions, territorial communities, representatives of different services, as well as pupils and parents. He emphasized that most of the participants of this project have a higher pedagogical education and extensive experience working with children. Due to the second stage of the project, they plan to reach 68 educational institutions and about 26 thousand children.

Yuriy Kitsul, Chief of the Department for Protection of Children's Rights of the Human Rights Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, also addressed the audience. He noted that due to the full-scale invasion, educational institutions had to face serious challenges that directly affected the security situation. "That's why we need to look for and use any tools to create a safe educational environment. After completing the training, the project participants will return to their communities and educational institutions to change this situation," Yuriy Kitsul said.

Safety educators will become communicators between local self-government bodies, police, rescuers, teachers, students and parents. Their main tasks will be to identify and stop offenses in educational institutions, participate in preventive measures and provide suggestions for strengthening a safe educational environment free from bullying, violence and drugs.

On October 28, Lviv State University of Internal Affairs hosted an all-Ukrainian scientific and practical conference focused on the issue of mental health of a person in a crisis society.

More than 100 scientists and experts from different regions of Ukraine, as well as foreign colleagues, participated in the discussion. The event was held in a remotely, participants communicated online using the ZOOM platform.

The event began with a welcome speech by Roman Blahuta, Rector of LvSUIA. He noted that the nation's mental health was at risk during the war.

"This year's conference aims at discussing the further steps to systematize and consolidate all resources and developments available in science and practice to ensure access to quality mental health recovery services for all who need it. Since the first days of the war, our university has not stood aside from this problem. We set up a Psychological First Aid Center where anyone who needed support could come", said the Rector.

Nina Lyhun, Chief of the Psychological Support Department of the Department of Personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, also addressed the participants of the scientific event.

"Since the beginning of the full-scale war, our psychologists have been working tirelessly. They help the population to survive under extremely difficult conditions and maintain mental and physical health. I hope that this conference will help us in our further work," said Nina Lyhun.

The all-Ukrainian conference was moderated by Olha Balynska, Vice-Rector of LvSUIA, and Zoryana Kisil, Deputy Director of the Institute of Management, Psychology and Security of LvSUIA.

Many important issues were discussed during the event. In particular, the participants discussed current approaches to short-term psychological interventions for acute stress in military personnel.

The participants of the event shared their views on the algorithm for providing psychological first aid in case of a panic attack, the work of military psychologists with psychotrauma, the potential change in the personality of a policeman in war conditions, as well as discussed the techniques of restoring personal resources.

Specialists touched upon the family problems in forced migration, staff motivation, ontological security of a person and the influence of public communication on mental health.

All conference participants noted the scientific, practical and theoretical relevance of the issues presented for discussion in the context of the study of mental health of an individual in a crisis society, taking into account the realities of war. 

Denys Monastyrskyi presented the achievements and challenges of the MIA system during the war.

The event was attended by chiefs, research and teaching staff and higher education applicants. Lviv State University of Internal Affairs was represented by its Rector Roman Blahuta, members of the Rectorate, teachers and university students.

The Minister of Internal Affairs spoke about responding to new challenges and making operational decisions during a full-scale invasion. In particular, he emphasized that among the main tasks faced by the MIA employees are combating hostile sabotage and reconnaissance groups, optimization of checkpoints, quick responses to challenges related to a large number of internally displaced persons and people who moved urgently abroad, and as well as the organization of humanitarian aid collection points.

The Minister focused on the main areas of work of various units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs during the war. These include the registration of war crimes, the demining of liberated territories, the provision of aid to victims, the restoration of order in the de-occupied territories, as well as the blocking of assets of russia and belarus.

Denys Monastyrskyi told about the cyber information campaign to discredit and demotivate the russian military. He emphasized that due to this it was possible to block more than 18.7 thousand hostile resources with a total audience of more than 243 million users.

In his speech, the Minister of Internal Affairs emphasized the importance of consolidating the joint efforts of democratic world countries and presented achievements in the field of international cooperation.

Representatives of the the European Union Advisory Mission Ukraine delivered a lecture dedicated to the pressing issue.

Speakers of the event were Gediminas Bučiunas, Senior Adviser on Prosecution from Lithuania and Jukka Larkio, Trainer on Criminal Investigations from Finland.

The event was dedicated to the European Anti-Trafficking Day, which is celebrated annually on October 18.

Cadets and master's students of LvSUIA learned about various forms of human trafficking. The EUAM specialists explained to the audience why the victims usually do not want to talk about what happened to them and do not contact the relevant authorities.

Jukka Larkio noted that the crime of human trafficking is not instantaneous like theft.

"This is a long process consisting of recruitment, transportation and exploitation of people. Accordingly, the investigation of this crime takes some time," the speaker said.

The EUAM representatives also told the cadets and students how the intruders control the victims.

"Traffickers take advantage of the vulnerability or weak position of victims, for example, financial trouble", Gediminas Bučiunas emphasized.

Jukka Larkio added that there are a number of institutions providing assistance to victims, such as legal advice, financial support, medical services and accommodation.

In conclusion, the speakers emphasized that human trafficking is a crime without borders. After all, it occurs all over the world.

"We cannot stop immigration. But we are able to inform the population about the risks of falling into slavery, carry out preventive measures and take better care for victims of trafficking," Jukka Larkio summed up.

The event was organized on the initiative of the Department of Actualization of Learning and Practical Training of LvSUIA. 

First-year cadets of the Lviv State University of Internal Affairs gave the Oath of an employee of the National Police. More than 360 young men and women swore allegiance to the Ukrainian people.

The cadets swore to be a police officer with dignity and perform their duties faithfully, to follow the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, to respect and protect human rights and freedoms.

Freshmen and guests solemnly performed the National Anthem of Ukraine. And after that, a minute of silence was observed in memory of the defenders who died defending our homeland from the enemy.

Mary Akopyan, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, congratulated the freshmen on taking the Oath. She emphasized that choosing the profession of a law enforcement officer is a very responsible and courageous step, because being a Ukrainian police officer means being a model of stability, professionalism, humanity and resilience.

"Welcome to the big police family. I believe that you will study diligently and be ready at any moment to serve, protect Ukraine and our society. I am sure that your generation will be the guardians of order who will rebuild our state, create a new "security architecture" in Europe," the Deputy Minister emphasized.

On behalf of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mary Akopyan solemnly handed awards of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine to university's employees, police officers, national guardsmen, border guards, rescuers, representatives of the State Migration Service and the Service Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Lviv region.

Roman Blahuta, the Rector of LvSUIA, also addressed the first-year cadets with a welcome speech. "Each of you will have an interesting and rich training program ahead of you with the best Ukrainian experts. Remember that now you have a unique opportunity to communicate with experienced mentors who will help you master the intricacies of your profession," the Rector of the university said.

Andriy Hodyk, the First Deputy Head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, congratulating the cadets, noted, "You are the hope and support not only of the Lviv region, but also of the entire state."

Yuriy Kholod, the Deputy Chairman of the Lviv Regional Council, also congratulated the freshmen. "I am sure that you have made the right choice for the future of our country. Never hesitate, stand up for the defense of our independent, sovereign state."

Archpriest Ivan Revutskyi, the Priest at the Chapel of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin of Lviv State University of Internal Affairs, blessed the cadets for an easy and happy service.

The celebrations ended with a musical greeting and a joint photo commemorating this important event. 

Lviv State University of Internal Affairs held the celebration on the occasion of handing over service IDs and special police badges to freshmen cadets.

Rector Roman Blahuta, First Vice-Rector of the university Taras Sozanskyi, Director of the Institute for Training of Specialists for Units of the National Police Yuriy Nazar, Deputy Director of the Institute Danylo Yosyfovych, Deans of faculties Ruslan Shekhavtsov, Ihor Sydoruk and Stepan Hnatyuk handed out badges to the LvSUIA cadets.

After that, all those gathered jointly performed the National Anthem of Ukraine.

Roman Blahuta, Rector of the university, addressed the freshmen with a welcome speech.

"Receiving a special policeman's badge is an important event for each person entering law enforcement service. This is a big responsibility and a sign that you are becoming a part of a large police family," LvSUIA Rector said.

He thanked the cadets for choosing the police profession, and wished them perseverance and restraint in overcoming all obstacles.

At the end of the event, the cadets, stamping a step, passed a solemn march. 

The participants discussed how to counteract «modern-day slavery» during the war.

The video conference was joined by bloggers who on their YouTube channels talk about the lives of Ukrainians abroad and speak out against Russian aggression.

The event took place on October 18, on the European Day against Human Trafficking.

Cadets, students, post-graduate students, teachers and researchers of LvSUIA also took part in the discussion.

"Before the full-scale invasion, more than 300,000 Ukrainians in the world suffered from "modern-day slavery". As you know, war is a factor that always exacerbates the problem of human trafficking," Larysa Brych, the Head of the university's Research Laboratory, Professor of the Department of Criminal Law Disciplines at the Institute of Law, emphasized at the beginning of the event.

She also mentioned the importance of informing the public about possible risks and involving in such a campaign well-known bloggers who truthfully cover the topic of Ukrainian refugees in European countries on their YouTube channels.

Invited bloggers - Denys Halandzovskyi, Ihor Moroz and Yulius Rou shared their own experience and knowledge of the society's mood, the attitudes towards internally displaced persons from Ukraine, the prospects for their lives in Poland, the Czech Republic and Estonia. They also assessed the threat of human trafficking, which had been exacerbated by Russian military aggression.

Oleksandra Zakharova, the Head of the Department of Actualization of Learning and Practical Training at LvSUIA, presented the chatbot "Stay in safe" (https://t.me/stay_in_safe_ua_bot/), created by the university together with the OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine.

At the end of the meeting, Kateryna Zhalovska, postgraduate student of the Department of Criminal Law Disciplines at the Institute of Law of LvSUIA, highlighted the problem of the disappearance of children during the war and the capabilities of the information platform https://childrenofwar.gov.ua/ to assist in their search.

During her working visit, Meri Akoppian met with the university chiefs and discussed possibilities of implementing new initiatives.

"We will make every effort to ensure that the training of specialists for the National Police is carried out at the appropriate level and that our graduates will be the best", said the Deputy Minister. "Therefore, we are ready for new ideas that will come from higher education institutions. After all, it is you who best understand what needs to be done to strengthen our capabilities and potential."

Admission campaign for entrants who have chosen the police profession has already begun. So Yuri Yatsenko, Head of Sector of the Organization of the Selection of Personnel Management NPMD in Lviv region, tells what steps are needed to become a cadet of Lviv State University of Internal Affairs.

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Meri Akoppian got acquainted with LvSUIA material & technical base and educational opportunities, as well as with an international projects that have been successfully implemented in universities.

During her working visit, Meri Akoppian met with the university chiefs and discussed possibilities of implementing new initiatives.

"We will make every effort to ensure that the training of specialists for the National Police is carried out at the appropriate level and that our graduates will be the best", said the Deputy Minister. "Therefore, we are ready for new ideas that will come from higher education institutions. After all, it is you who best understand what needs to be done to strengthen our capabilities and potential."