Dmytro Usik and Daniil Lubkin founded ARCU in 2020, after hosting the first JGS course in Kiev. They identified a demand among Ukrainian students to study Objectivism in depth, and so they created a pilot program called the “Objectivist Thought Leader Program” (OTLP). This program trains JGS graduates on how to teach Objectivism to others using Rand’s works and holding discussions, and it provides the graduates with tools to help them start local chapters of campus clubs or study groups. In 2021, they taught more than 100 students, several of whom have started local chapters in their hometowns in Ukraine.
Having proved their concept repeatedly, they secured additional funding from Prometheus and have expanded to comprise multiple complementary initiatives.
Dymtro and Daniil have maintained a partnership with Nash Format (Our Format), continuously publishing and promoting Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, and We the Living in the Ukraine. In 2025, they added The Virtue of Selfishness to the line-up.
On social media, ARCU commands strong engagement. By 2021, its Facebook reach exceeded 7,000 followers, making it (at that time) the largest Objectivist Facebook page in Europe. It is also expanding its presence on YouTube, with discussions of Rand’s thought in formats that are accessible to Ukrainian and Russian audiences.
Perhaps ARCU’s most notable achievement is its continuity of mission under difficult circumstances. Even amid the Russian invasion, ARCU successfully completed its spring JGS course and began planning the fall session. They are not merely surviving—they are advancing.
And their campus outreach continues: They are supporting local study groups across Ukraine and, under a renewed Prometheus grant, have extended their Objectivism Campus Program, which aims to integrate Objectivist content into university curricula. Their first target is Kyiv-Mohyla Business School, Daniil’s alma mater.
Much of ARCU’s success rests on the dedication and strategic vision of its cofounders, Dmytro Usik and Daniil Lubkin, who have navigated both the usual challenges of a growing nonprofit and the extraordinary conditions of war. Their ability to launch, adapt, and maintain academic and outreach programs speaks to their exceptional resolve.
Prometheus Foundation is proud to support ARCU’s mission. Their accomplishments—from training educators and expanding curricula to producing media content and sustaining efforts under fire—exemplify the kind of intellectual seed sowing that, over time, bears disproportionate fruit.
ARCU stands today not merely as a grantee, but as a model: a homegrown, Ukrainian-led engine for philosophical change. As the world watches Ukraine’s struggle, ARCU quietly engages in the long-term battle for reason and flourishing.
