In this presentation I will focus on the challenges faced by the higher education system of Ukraine after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian Federation on 24 February 2022 and the prospects for the higher education development after Ukraine receives the status of an EU candidate in 2022. I will analyse the state of the network of higher education institutions, the extent of its destruction, legislative and regulatory support for the activities of higher education institutions at a time of war, and the peculiarities of organising the educational process in higher education institutions during the war period. I will also talk about other problems faced by higher education in Ukraine today. I also plan to characterise the European integration policy of Ukraine in the field of higher education – achievements and tasks for the future. I will outline the prospects for the development of higher education in the vision of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and talk about the achievements and requests of Ukrainian students and graduate students in my vision as a professor at a Ukrainian university. I will also share the results of our project dedicated to the study of the European Research Area, within the framework of which we conducted a survey on the attitude of Ukrainian researchers to the prospects of integrating the Ukrainian research area into a joint European research area.