With the Ukrainian government now calling on IT professionals to join the so-called IT Army of Ukraine, the country’s technology sector is very much a part of Ukraine’s concerted effort to fend off Russia’s invasion.
In a world first, Ukraine is assembling a cyber army of volunteers to defend the country’s critical networks as well as strike back against Russia.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s vice prime minister and minister of digital transformation, first published an appeal to IT workers on Twitter, on February 26, two days after Russia began its invasion.
“We are creating an IT army. We need digital talents,” Fedorov wrote. “There will be tasks for everyone. We continue to fight on the cyber front.”
According to Nataly Veremeeva, the director of government-backed platform TechUkraine and Tech Emerging Europe Advocates ambassador, the Ukrainian tech sector is unlikely to crack under pressure.
“Ever since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, we have been learning to live and function with the threat of a Russian invasion,” Veremeeva tells Emerging Europe. “The tech community consists of thousands of educated people with a global outlook, and it is one of the pillars of Ukraine’s resistance.”
However, Veremeeva believes that for the tech sector to ride out the current storm, its clients will need to remain calm even as the war escalates.
“We hope that clients of Ukrainian companies will continue working with us,” she adds. “This is especially important in times like these, when it’s going to be much harder for the Ukrainian economy and Ukrainian companies to stay afloat.”
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- Come Back Alive is one of the largest charitable foundations that supports Ukrainian soldiers, founded by the IT specialist Vitaliy Deynega. The organization collected more than 210 million UAH (more than $7M) in 2014. According to Na chasi, the Patreon page Come Back Alive is in the top ten projects by the number of financial donations.
- Army SOS, which develops drones;
- Everybody Can, an organization that supports internally displaced people;
- Help on the Ministry of Defense website.