March 9, 2022 - In a huge gesture of solidarity with Ukrainian veterinary students, the Zagreb Faculty of Veterinary Medicine has arranged for Ukrainian students to complete their clinical practices and studies in Croatia free of charge.

Tomorrow will be two weeks since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The result is a nearly 14-day war that has claimed the lives of 3,393 Ukrainian civilians and injured 9,000 others. Additionally, it is reported that as of yesterday, more than two million Ukrainians have fled their country because of the war. Some, especially in the first days of the Russian invasion, crossed the borders by car, but the vast majority are women, children, and the elderly on foot. It is estimated that 1,204,000 Ukrainian civilians have arrived in Poland, 191,000 in Hungary, 141,000 in Slovakia, 83,000 in Moldova, 82,000 in Romania, 453 in Belarus, 99,000 in Russia, and 210,000 in other European countries. And the numbers of Ukrainian refugees, as well as dead and wounded, continue to rise as the Russian army advances.

With reduced or ruled out chances of intervention by other countries in the conflict, for fear of a world war, the rest of the world has chosen to isolate Russia with a large number of political and economic sanctions, which range from severe financial blockade, cutting off diplomatic ties, cancellation of cultural events in the country, and even the suspension of their sports teams or athletes in international or continental competitions.

But in addition to the sanctions against Russia, in these two weeks, a large number of efforts and gestures of solidarity to assist Ukrainian refugees were registered throughout the continent. Countless civilians have appeared at the borders to welcome Ukrainian refugees with food, clothing, and transportation. Some have even entered Ukraine to pick up those who are still walking, making it easier for them to reach the border.

In Croatia, centers have been set up that serve as temporary accommodation for refugees in cities such as Zagreb, Varaždin, Osijek, or Vukovar. Likewise, throughout the country, a large number of citizens have organized themselves to receive donations and coordinate their transportation to the border. Also noteworthy are the marches in support and solidarity towards Ukraine, which also call for peace and the end of the Russian invasion. Most notably, the one that took place on Saturday at Ban Jelačić square in Zagreb.

But one gesture, in particular, deserves recognition, not only for the gesture itself but because it opens the door to other ways of assisting the victims and those affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And it is that, among the millions of Ukrainians who have had to leave their homes and their country, many are university students who have been forced to stop their studies. Thus, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zagreb has provided that Ukrainian veterinary students can complete their studies, validate their courses, and complete their clinical practices in the Croatian capital, free of charge and covering food expenses, and more.

Yesterday, in a public statement shared on its official website, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine announced:

''The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zagreb expresses its sincere support to the Ukrainian people in light of the aggression against the sovereign Republic of Ukraine. With great concern, we are following the news about the events of the war in our friendly country Ukraine and express our deep sorrow for the suffering of the Ukrainian people. We feel sincere sympathy for all Ukrainian students, fellow teachers, and the entire Ukrainian nation, and we wish for an end to all aggression on the territory of the Republic of Ukraine.

We would like to help the suffering Ukrainian people and offer Ukrainian veterinary students the possibility of continuing their studies at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zagreb.

This includes:

1. Continuation of their education free of charge from the first to the sixth year, in Croatian or English.
2. The possibility of completing parts of their course at our Faculty, as part of the student exchange program.
3. Completion of clinical practice at our Faculty’s clinics including professional fieldwork.
4. Free meals in the form of lunch and evening meals in the student restaurants.
5. Provision of continuous support to the development of their careers, with academic and psychological counseling (Office for Career Development and Academic and Psychological Counselling +385 1 2390 330; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
6. An individual approach to resolving problems and classes missed as a result of the current situation.

Ukrainian veterinary students who would like to continue their studies at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zagreb should send an e-mail (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) for further details.

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As Morski writes on the 28th of March, 2019, this weekend, the island of Murter will host the first of two sets of field work of Zagreb veterinary students within the "Blue Project - Contribution to the development of the DKU Program at VFZS" project, carried out by the Argonaut association in partnership with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zagreb, as well as the Pula Marine Education Centre.

The implementation of the project started back in April 2018, and the purpose of the project is to give the Zagreb veterinary students a chance to engage in socially beneficial marine environment conservation projects. Through the projects within the classes, and in cooperation with various civil society organisations, students will learn to properly identify the needs of the community and through the courses they undertake, develop potential solutions - projects that will see them engaged in the local community, according to a report from SibenikIN.

Within this concrete project, the topics that are likely among the most interesting to the Zagreb veterinary students will be the methods and ways of monitoring populations and providing treatment to the Adriatic's protected marine animals, such as sea turtles and dolphins.

In addition to Murter, students will also visit Pula and the Marine Education Center at the Pula Aquarium in mid-April this year.

Students will develop their projects through selected mentoring programs which include but aren't limited to visiting habitats during the winter months and learning how to properly aid a sea turtle who has become too cold, learning about the friendly behaviour of sea turtles and dolphins, what to do when coming across a sick or injured dolphin or sea turtle, and what the procedure is should a dead dolphin or sea turtle be discovered.

At the workshop in Murter, the thematic workshop will focus on dolphins and students will be educated on the development of monitoring protocols, recording the occurrence of protected marine animals - dates, times, geographical positions, the number of animals, their ages, their conditions and the level of potential human impact (maritime traffic, tourism and fishing), as well as the basics of photographing these types of protected marine species.

The project aimed at the Zagreb veterinary students and their further education will go on for eighteen months, more specifically until October 2019, and is co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) in the amount of 854,018,21 kuna, with a total value of 1,004,727.31 kuna. The project leader is the Argonaut association from Murter, and the partners of the project are the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zagreb and the Pula Marine Centre. The project is being implemented in the area of Šibenik-Knin County, Zagrebačka, and Istria County.

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Click here for the original article by SibenikIN