As Russian troops poured across the Ukrainian border toward Kharkov, Serhii Evdokimov got into his car and started driving. “The city was full of checkpoints and blockades,” he recalls. “I stopped at some checkpoint and asked, 'What kind of assistance do you need?' Hot drinks, tea, coffee, energy drinks, warm clothing?”
Just 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the border, Kharkiv was the site of some of the heaviest fighting early in the conflict. Evdokimov, an engineer who works for the Swedish-Ukrainian software company Sigma, spent the first few weeks procuring supplies and delivering them to soldiers defending the city and civilians sheltering in subway stations and basements. spent on work.
As the garrisons slowly pushed the Russians beyond the city limits, he followed them, transporting hundreds of hot meals a day from restaurants in Kharkov to soldiers entrenched in the forests.
When Russia invaded in February 2022, Evdokimov was one of more than 700 Sigma employees based in Kharkov. While he was delivering aid, the company was working to evacuate staff and their families from the war zone.
They weren't completely unprepared. In the months leading up to the invasion, the company leadership conducted tabletop planning exercises and planned for several contingencies, but was surprised by the speed of the Russian advance and had to readjust their plans. Ta.
A week before the war, they had booked a fleet of buses to take people out. “But once it started, the problem was that the bus driver refused to leave,” Evgeny Bachinsky, head of compliance at Sigma, who oversaw the evacuation plan, told Al Jazeera.
It took two weeks to get everyone who wanted to leave Kharkiv out of the city and into relative safety in the western part of the country. Some of the evacuees from the east were sleeping at the company's Kiev headquarters. It was a period of turmoil, but the company quickly got back on its feet and resumed operations.
“All we need to operate is a human, an Internet connection, and a laptop,” Baczynski said. “Within two weeks, I think we had 95 percent of our employees physically operational.”
Many Ukrainian technology companies have similar stories. Management teams that had previously focused on profit-and-profit accounting were suddenly forced to become experts in logistics and humanitarian relief, rescuing employees exposed to war, and managing teams scattered by war. I had to find a way to continue.
By and large, they succeeded, the industry not only survived but thrived, grew despite adversity, brought in capital, kept people in jobs and developed battlefield technology while other parts of the economy struggled. directly supported the war effort. .
As the war entered its third year, some of its miraculous luster began to fade. The sector is suffering from brain drain and fatigue as it becomes increasingly difficult to attract investment and customers from abroad. But technology industry leaders say the resilience the industry built in the early days of the conflict remains intact.
“Of course we are tired,” said Oleg Polovinko, a technology entrepreneur and technology advisor to the mayor of Kyiv. “But we are not discouraged.”
“Very high-risk country”
Ukraine's technology industry was growing long before the invasion began. Western European companies have young, well-educated workforces, making them natural places to set up back offices for software development and technical support. A local entrepreneur has built his technology outsourcing industry to work with customers around the world. The startup scene was booming, clustering around new high-tech campuses in Kiev, Lviv, and Kharkiv.
The government was keen to rebalance the economy away from Soviet-era heavy industry and created tax breaks and other business support under its “Dear City” initiative. According to data from the Ukrainian IT Association, technology exports increased nearly three times between 2017 and 2021, reaching more than $ 7 billion.
In 2022, the industry has actually grown, even as thousands of component companies are working on generators and Starlink connections in their basements. Ukraine's economy shrank by nearly a third, but technology exports rose by nearly 6%. Global technology companies rushed to help the country, announcing investments, donating computing resources and providing corporate support. Many foreign customers in this sector have pledged to continue cooperation with the Ukrainians, despite the risks.
“It was a shock for everyone. Everyone wanted to help Ukraine,” said Irina Volnitska, founder of Kyiv's technical university SET. “At times it felt like a donation rather than a business, but the response was great.”
Maintaining this momentum has always been difficult, and in 2023 technology exports retreated to below the 2021 total. “It's been two years since then,” Wolnicka told Al Jazeera. “There is a crisis in the world, there is a recession. Right now around the world you don't hear much about Ukraine.”
Many technology companies find it difficult to find new customers. “Ukraine is a very high-risk country. Technical experts can be drafted into the army or killed at any time,” Volnitska said. Men of military age are not allowed to leave the country, so they cannot go abroad to meet potential clients or partners.
Venture capitalists say they want to work with Ukraine but need to reduce the risks of their investments. This means that they are reluctant to invest in companies whose management teams and entire infrastructure are based in Ukraine.
Some startups have adapted by setting up offices abroad, with Ukrainian technology clusters now located in Warsaw, Berlin and other European cities, as well as outposts in America's Silicon Valley. The number of women working in senior roles in the industry is increasing, helping startups expand internationally.
However, the dangers and hardships of living and working in a country at war led many to flee the country. A study by the incubator Lviv IT Cluster found that 65,000 Ukrainian technology professionals currently reside abroad. “This is the most difficult problem for Ukraine,” Volnytska said. “We have a huge brain drain.”
Ukraine needs technology talent. The country has relied heavily on startups to help fight the much larger Russian military. The burgeoning military technology industry is leading the world in innovation in drones, cybersecurity, and other battlefield tools. Since the war began, global defense companies have flocked to the country to invest in promising new technologies, test tools and collect data. Once the war ends, the technology industry will become an important source of jobs and investment to rebuild devastated economies.
“Lots of Plan B”
“Not anymore. But this is also an opportunity for us to rebuild from scratch and build a more innovative country,” Volnytska told Al Jazeera. “Many traditional industries have been destroyed. So do we want to build new factories or create innovative technology companies?”
Mr. Wolnicka's SET was launched two months before the full-scale invasion, with the goal of preparing students to become technology entrepreneurs. Like other technologies in his ecosystem, they too have had to adapt, including taking courses online and adapting their curriculum to the current reality.
The cybersecurity course began in May 2022 after the invasion. 55,000 people applied. The university is preparing to launch an international program focused on cities with large numbers of Ukrainian refugees.
“Our students study in Poland for one year, for example in Berlin for two years, the next year in London, and for the last year we want to bring them back to Kyiv and show that there are still opportunities in Kyiv .’ Ukraine,” Vornitska said.
As the second anniversary of the full-scale invasion approaches, the global narrative surrounding Ukraine is dominated by the domestic politics of its international allies.
US military aid is on hold pending debate in Congress. While the tech industry at large continues to support Ukraine, Company X owner Elon Musk backs controversial right-wing provocateur Tucker Carlson's interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin etc., are amplifying Russian propaganda. On the ground, a raging war has reached a stalemate.
“There was definitely fatigue a few months ago,” said Dennis Gluck, a technology entrepreneur and venture capitalist who played a key role in lobbying for support for the U.S. technology industry early in the conflict. People had “increased expectations” of the military's ability to launch a counterattack. But that moment has passed, he says.
“Frankly, I feel like people are just realizing that nothing has changed,” Gulak said. “We still need to work. We can't allow ourselves to get tired.” Although based in the United States for many years now, he plans to return to Ukraine next month. .
Evdokimov is still in Kharkov. The city continues to be bombarded by Russian drones and missiles, and he is currently juggling his day job as an engineer with his role as head of Sigma's charitable foundation.
Living and working so close to war means there are “plenty of Plan Bs,” he says.
“In case of power outages, we have power sources such as diesel and gasoline available. We have reserved three to four internet channels in different geographical areas of Kharkiv in case the internet connection goes down.”
There are days when I can't get back to my normal state and the mental burden becomes heavy. “[But] Life does not end here, ”said Evdokimov. “We work; we're fine.”
