Commemorating Four Years Since the Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine

On 24 February 2026, the GRÓ GEST programme at the University of Iceland marked the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine with the opening of the international exhibition Unissued Diplomas: Never Graduated, Eternally Honoured. The opening event took place at 15:00 in Room 101, Háskólatorg, bringing together students, staff, and members of the public in remembrance and solidarity.

The exhibition commemorates 40 Ukrainian students who were killed as a result of the war and who never had the opportunity to graduate. Through symbolic diplomas and accompanying photographs, their stories are told within university spaces across the world.

From Student Initiative to Global Movement

The Icelandic edition of the exhibition was initiated by Daryna Zavhorodnia, a 2026 fellow of the GRÓ Gender Equality Studies and Training Programme (GRÓ GEST), who is among the initiators of the global project. It is hosted by GRÓ GEST in collaboration with the University of Iceland Ukraine Project, the Ukrainian initiative Memorial, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and the international volunteer network of Ukrainian students and recent graduates, which continues to coordinate the project worldwide.

Unissued Diplomas was launched in 2023 by Ukrainian exchange students at the University of Toronto, including Zavhorodnia. What began as a student-led act of remembrance quickly expanded across continents. Over the past three years, more than 300 exhibitions have been held in over 40 countries across Europe, North America, and Africa. Despite its international scale, the initiative remains fully voluntary and grounded in its founding principle: students speaking about their peer students, to students.

The exhibition consists of 40 symbolic diplomas (A3 format), each accompanied by a photograph (A4 format). Originally created in Ukrainian, the diplomas are presented at the University of Iceland in bilingual format, with Icelandic and English translations. Each document tells the story of a student whose life was cut short — transforming a symbol of academic achievement into a memorial of interrupted potential.

Bringing the Exhibition to the University of Iceland

The installation of the exhibition required extensive organising, translating, designing, and printing. On Saturday morning, 21 February, the 2026 GRÓ GEST cohort gathered at Háskólatorg to set up the exhibition panels together, demonstrating a shared commitment to solidarity and remembrance within the programme’s international community.

The exhibition is on display at Háskólatorg (first floor) from 23–26 February 2026, inviting students, staff, and visitors to engage with the stories and reflect on the broader human consequences of war.

The Opening Event

The opening event on 24 February marked both a moment of commemoration and a reaffirmation of the importance of memory within academic communities. Three speeches were delivered, each offering a perspective on war, politics of memory, loss and the ethics of remembrance, including GRÓ GEST fellow Daryna Zavhorodnia’s reflections on the exhibition she initiated together with fellow students from Ukraine. Adding to these reflections, GRÓ GEST fellows contributed two poignant performances. Those present in the room were not merely observers but witnesses, acutely aware that the date itself marks a rupture in contemporary European history that continues to unfold—a feeling that the exhibition itself powerfully evokes.

Irma Erlingsdóttir: Politics of Memory 

GRÓ GEST Director Irma Erlingsdóttir delivered remarks reflecting on the human cost of war and the politics of memory. She thanked Daryna for bringing the powerful exhibition to the University and expressed sincere appreciation to the other 23 members of the current GRÓ GEST cohort for their solidarity and active participation in preparing the event. In her address, Erlingsdóttir underscored that memory is never neutral but shaped and contested, determining whose suffering is acknowledged and whose voices are erased. Drawing on research by GRÓ GEST alumni from Serbia and Kosovo, she highlighted how feminist anti-war activists have resisted state-sponsored denial and selective commemoration through alternative forms of remembrance, and how women’s roles in resistance and peacebuilding have often been written out of dominant national narratives. She further noted that even when women’s suffering is publicly recognised, it can be absorbed into nationalist frameworks that risk reinforcing stigma rather than enabling genuine, human-centred accountability. These lessons, she stressed, are crucial for societies emerging from conflict. Ukraine, in the years ahead, will face not only the reconstruction of infrastructure but also the reconstruction of collective memory — and how that memory is shaped will influence prospects for justice, reconciliation, and democratic development. Erlingsdóttir concluded by emphasising that inclusive, honest, and plural memory practices grounded in accountability and civic courage are essential to building a democratic future.

Giti Chandra: Ethics of Empathy

Associate Research Professor Giti Chandra also contributed a reflective address, drawing on literature, philosophy, and global intellectual traditions to explore the meaning of empathy in times of violence. Beginning with one of Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite hymns — the 15th-century Gujarati Vaishnav Jan To Tene Kahiye Je Peer Parayi Jaane Re, which honours those who “feel the pain of the stranger” — she traced the deep linguistic and ethical connections between pity and piety, both rooted in the Latin pietas. From medieval poetry to the African philosophy of Ubuntu — “I am because we are” — she emphasised the enduring human understanding that our survival, dignity, and moral imagination depend upon recognising ourselves in others.

At a time when we are inundated with images of suffering from beyond our borders, Chandra suggested that empathy is neither a passive sentiment nor an abstract ideal, but a demanding ethical practice. Quoting the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish — “nothing is harder on the soul than the smell of dreams while they are evaporating” — she acknowledged that empathy can expose us not only to compassion, but also to grief, anger, and fear. Yet it remains, she argued, the only meaningful response to violence and loss on a staggering scale. To practice empathy, even when it is difficult, is to affirm our shared humanity — and to insist, quietly but firmly, that we move forward together.

Daryna Zavhorodnia: A Life Interrupted by War

In her speech, GRO GEST fellow Daryna Zavhorodnia spoke both as the co-founder of the exhibition and as a Ukrainian student whose life was directly shaped by war. She started by recalling February 24, 2022, when she herself was a bachelor’s student in Kyiv, expected to sit a midterm exam – only to wake up and learn Russia’s full-scale invasion had begun. Reflecting on the past four years, she described not only the visible destruction of war but also the constant sense of fragility that accompanies daily life under its shadow.

Daryna then shared the full story of the commemorative project Unissued Diplomas, tracing its origins and powerful purpose. The project was initiated in early 2023 by Ukrainian students, including members of the Ukrainian-Canadian Students’ Union and a team connected to the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, as a way to honour the lives of those young people whose education was interrupted — and ultimately ended — by Russia’s full-scale invasion. Each diploma on display represents a student who will never hold their degree because their life was taken in the war, and together these unissued diplomas tell personal stories of dreams deferred and futures lost. The stories were carefully collected by the Unissued Diplomas team through conversations with students' parents and friends, and some were provided in cooperation with Memorial, ensuring that each narrative remains faithful to lived experience.

The exhibition was created to remind the world that classrooms have turned into battlefields, and what was once ordinary student life has been transformed into courage and sacrifice. Since its inception, Unissued Diplomas has grown into a global initiative, with over 300 exhibitions hosted at universities and institutions around the world, bringing the stories of fallen Ukrainian students to diverse audiences and reinforcing that the war continues and innocent lives are still being taken. 

Daryna highlighted that the project not only memorialises those who will never graduate but also invites reflection on the fragility and value of education, community, and peace. By giving faces and stories to those students, the initiative creates a deeper understanding and empathy, encouraging visitors to remember that behind every diploma is a life that mattered. The collective effort of students and volunteers around the world — united by the shared goal of preserving memory and calling attention to the ongoing conflict — underscores a commitment to global solidarity and the power of storytelling in the face of loss.
 

Staging Loss: The GRÓ GEST Fellows Stand in Solidarity

GRÓ GEST fellows contributed two powerful performances that deeply moved those in attendance. The first was an original theatrical piece written and performed by members of the cohort. Set around an ordinary university table, the scene portrayed two students studying, laughing, and immersed in the small, familiar routines of everyday academic life. The simplicity of the moment underscored what was at stake: youth, friendship, ambition, and the promise of the future. Without warning, the atmosphere shifted as two armed soldiers entered and shot the students, abruptly ending their lives. The stark contrast between normalcy and violence conveyed with devastating clarity how lives are tragically taken away, and with them, dreams, hopes, and futures are lost.

The second performance offered a space for collective mourning and remembrance. Six fellows stood together to sing a Ukrainian commemorative song “Ty zhyvyi” (“You are alive”), honoring those who have been lost and giving voice to those who live on in memory and grief. Accompanied by one of the fellows on guitar, the song filled the room with a sense of solidarity and shared humanity. Together, the performances created a moment of reflection that transcended words, reminding the audience of the profound human cost behind every unissued diploma.

An Invitation to Remember

By situating the exhibition within a university setting, the initiative highlights what was taken from these students: not only their lives, but their futures, ambitions, and contributions to society.

All are welcome to visit the exhibition and stand in remembrance and solidarity.

More information about the global initiative can be found at the Unissued Diplomas website.

Through diplomas that will never be issued, the exhibition ensures that these students — though never graduated — are eternally honoured.