Military Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technologies

Military college in Kyiv, Ukraine

Military Institute of Telecommunication and Information Technologies named after the Heroes of Kruty (Військовий інститут телекомунікацій та інформатизації імені Героїв Крут, Viyskovyi instytut telekomunikatsiy ta informatyzatsii) is an institution of higher military education in Ukraine and part of the State University of Telecommunications, located in Pechersk neighborhood of Kyiv. In the Soviet times (since 1965) it was known as the Kyiv Military Engineering College of Signal (Київське вище військове інженерне училище зв'язку імені М. І. Калініна). From 2001 – 2013, it was part of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. It is an important educational center for high tech electronics and telecommunications and has a branch in Poltava.

The institute is located in the same building as the original city's school of cantonists that was built in Kyiv in 1839. In 1865 on decree of the Russian Emperor Alexander II, the school was transformed into the Kiev Infantry Cadet School. In 1897 it was renamed again into the Kiev Military School and just before World War I into the 1st Kiev Military School. In the fall of 1915 it was renamed into the 1st Kiev Konstantinovskoye Military School in the memory of passed away Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia. As the 1st Ukrainian Military School of Bohdan Khmelnytsky students under the command of Averkiy Honcharenko took part in the Battle of Kruty. Out of 200 students only 80 returned to Kyiv.

After the defeat of Ukrainian forces, in 1920 in place of the former Konstantinovskoye school were quartered engineer classes that were created in Moscow back in 1919. On August 11, 1920, the Moscow Engineer classes were officially renamed into the 2nd Kiev Engineer classes. In 1921 the classes were renamed again into the 3rd Kiev Military Engineer School of Commanding staff. Once again the school changed its name in 1924 as the Kiev Military School of Communication and in 1926 was named in the memory of Mikhail Kalinin.

The institute was founded back in Soviet times as "Kiev Higher Military Radio Technical Engineering School" (Киевское высшее инженерное радиотехническое училище, КВИРТУ, abbreviated KVIRTU). This has also been referred to in Krasnaya Zvezda, via U. S. DOD documents, as the "Kiev Higher Engineering Radiotechnical School of Air Defence" of the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The main compound of the institute was situated in Shevchenkivsky district of Kyiv (Melnikova str. 81). The compound was occupied by military education facilities as early as in late 19th century.