Ukrainian IT Sector During War: The State of Tech, New Realities, and Digital Resistance

The War in a Digital Age: What Is It Like?

Recently, one article on HackerNoon caught the attention of our marketing team. It was a piece “Watching a War, in a Digital Age” where “a Vietnamese Gen-Z who grew up in an age of digital transformation” reflects on how technology extends the narrative through personal, real-time experience.

These days, you can follow the war events in Ukraine via traditional news, or you can open TikTok and see what’s happening via thousands of stories. From teenagers to cultural institutions, content makers manage to reach more people than ever by appealing primarily to the emotional element. These attempts to show one more side of the story are not always intentional, but they are no less effective than the official reports.

The war in a digital age means fighting on the information frontlines, and it is not a figure of speech. Ukrainians have been engaged in political warfare for years. Given russia’s colonial past, vicious ambitions, and generous investment in the bot farms, you can guess it wasn’t an easy fight.

Nevertheless, the russian propaganda machine made some serious miscalculations this time: Ukrainians question everything, have an array of independent media, and have good internet connections even in rural areas. And on top of that, they’ve been preparing to counter the attack and are aware of the majority of the manipulative narratives.

So, the russians started their attack by bombing TV towers in several regional centers and kept targeting them for days. However, the majority of Ukrainians use satellite television or online streaming services, which are available for free during the war. Moreover, the major Ukrainian TV channels have joined forces to launch a round-the-clock information marathon.

One of the subjects addressed in this information marathon regularly was provocations. In particular, the Ukrainians were informed that enemy forces may:

• announce that major cities are already occupied by the russian army;
• claim that particular regions have surrendered without fights;
• create deepfake videos to communicate the mentioned above or other crazy messages.

That’s only an introduction to Ukraine’s technological response – not even the tip of an iceberg. And before we move on to the more detailed information: yes, we’ve been spelling “russia” using a lowercase letter – in solidarity with the new Ukrainian orthography.

“For eight years, I stuck to journalistic standards in war reporting. I always told my journalists to be neutral, show both sides, don’t support any political party. But since the war started, I have lost a lot of friends and colleagues. And it was my personal decision to write “Russia” and “Putin” without capital letters. All in lowercase. ” – Oleg Skrypnik, the Ukrainian journalist for Slate

How Digital Is Ukraine?

To begin with, how digital is Ukraine? This Twitter user has probably said it all:

How digital is Ukraine? The delivery app in Kyiv managed to sync with air raids systems. When an alert is on, all orders are halted and people automatically get their money back.

— Mike Sapiton 🇺🇦 (@sapitonmix) March 9, 2022

If you open the thread, you’ll find some interesting replies, shedding more light on the situation:

Ukraine also has one of the highest percentages in Europe for people paying with their phone (Apple/Google Pay). The Netherlands (where I live) is like an ancient country when compared digitally to Ukraine.

— Nieuwsvolger93 (@nieuwsvolger93) March 9, 2022

Ukraine ranks 74th in the Human Development Index, 78th in the overall Prosperity Index rankings, and is believed to be the poorest country in Europe by nominal GDP per capita. Still, the majority of Ukrainians have top-notch smartphones and gadgets. Using a device with NFC for digital payments is a usual practice – even in small cities, even during the war. This comes as a surprise to many, while Ukrainians traveling abroad are puzzled by a lack of contactless payment options.

Ukrainians don’t have access to some of the popular global services. This list features streaming services as well as payment systems. But this fact alone doesn’t interfere with the country being technologically advanced. Here’s why.

PayPal hasn’t been available in Ukraine since March. The citizens could connect their cards to make payments through PayPal, but they could not receive the payments. As a result, people had limited access to some other platforms and resources. For example, Ukrainians could buy but not sell items on eBay. And you can find more examples like this.

Meanwhile, the local tech minds would rather invest their time in creating something new that will come in handy for the Ukrainian community. One of the examples is monobank – a mobile banking platform that has become mainstream weeks after its launch. Among other things, it has received a record fast integration with Apple Pay. After presenting some stats (monobank was at the top of failed integrations with the Wallet), the monobank team got a permit for the implementation and prepared the tech part in just four days. Normally, it all takes around five weeks.

So, it wasn’t an alternative to PayPal or an attempt to copy a widely-used service, but it worked even better. monobank was first available in Kyiv, and it became a trendy payment system among the representatives of the IT and creative industries. But pretty soon, it has grown into one of the most popular payment solutions countrywide.

When someone mentions Ukraine, technology isn’t probably the first thing that comes to mind. That’s why it turns out to be a hidden gem to many travelers and immigrants.

【ウクライナで所得税】を払いました。IT先進国ウクライナは納税も超簡単。政府の個人情報管理アプリdiiaの画面に、納付金額と期日がプッシュ型で通知されます。支払い間隔は3ヶ月に1回。金額を確認し、ApplePayで生体認証して、秒で納付完了。これはスゴイ! pic.twitter.com/SXPnDony1i

— terry🇯🇵🇺🇦@ウクライナ (@akizukitooru) April 1, 2022

“I paid [income tax in Ukraine]. Ukraine, an advanced IT country, is super easy to pay taxes. The payment amount and due date will be notified in a push type on the screen of the government’s personal information management application diia. The payment interval is once every three months. Check the amount, biometrically authenticate with Apple Pay, and complete payment in seconds. This is amazing!”

To summarize this paragraph, when you see the Japanese (!) complimenting the state of technology in Ukraine, it certainly encourages you to learn more about it.

Why Is Ukraine an Important Tech Hub?

Everything is pretty clear with local payments. So it’s time for the next question. Can you name some of the famous companies founded in Ukraine or by Ukrainians? You may be surprised, but you’ve surely heard of some:

Everything is pretty clear with local payments. So it’s time for the next question. Can you name some of the famous companies founded in Ukraine or by Ukrainians? You may be surprised, but you’ve surely heard of some:

• MacPaw – a developer of apps and services for Mac users.
• Grammarly – a cloud-based AI writing assistant.
• Reface – an app that allows swapping faces in media content.
• BetterMe – a leading Health&Fitness publisher.
• Ajax – the award-winning wireless security system.
• YouScan – an AI platform for image analysis.
• Depositphotos – a royalty-free content marketplace.
• Preply – a tutoring platform for language learning.

All of them have Ukrainian roots, and there are many more examples of existing or rising startups that ring a bell or catch the attention of the investors.

Let us briefly explain how Ukraine has become an important tech hub (for those, who just learned this fact). There are several determining factors.

1. Well-educated staff. The majority of the specialists have at least Bachelor’s Degrees, and many have Master’s Degrees. Ukrainian universities rarely make it to the top of the world’s best universities. Still, the leading universities provide a strong tech background. One more fact you may find surprising is that free education and scholarships are very accessible as compared to the Western countries. Finally, there are many paid courses by private educational institutions and Ukrainian tech companies that focus on in-demand practical skills and offer employment opportunities after graduation.
2. Cost-efficiency. The cost of living in Ukraine is lower compared to Europe, the UK, and the US. Even in Kyiv, the capital city, the cost of office maintenance and compensation will be lower compared to the European countries and the US. And back to point one, there is a well-educated staff (with good English on top of tech knowledge). So, we get an excellent price-quality ratio that cannot go unnoticed by foreign investors and business owners.
3. Logistics. Ukraine has been known as a crossroad between the East and the West, the North and the South since the early days of Kyivan Rus – the ancient state that existed on these lands from the late 9th to the mid-13th century. History aside, Ukraine is located only one or two time zones away from the central and rest of Europe and has enough common hours with both North America and Australia.
4. State support. The government of President Zelenskyy took the course for digitalization from their first days in office. Some of the main goals that were announced included: a full 4G coverage in the country, digital education for the elderly, and prevention of brain drain by creating a better environment for IT companies and startups. The initiatives to create more favorable conditions for tech businesses are ongoing.
5. Human factor. Ukraine is a developing country. It is a country fighting for its freedom and identity. Ukrainians are a creative and hardworking nation. They are highly motivated to develop their country and make it recognized for something good. It may sound presumptuous at first, but it is true.

The combination of some of the abovementioned factors has been showing quite impressive results for a while. Some initiatives have been paused due to the war, but the overall focus on digitalization, development, and improvements remains.

How Do Ukrainian Tech Companies Work During War?

The same Twitter tread quoted earlier goes on like this. And we should probably add: be cautious, the situation can trigger cognitive dissonance.

Um. Delivery apps still work in Kyiv?! These people are fucking gods!!!

— XAR 🇺🇦 🌻 (@xtremalraven) March 9, 2022

I mean, the simple fact that delivery is still a thing in the middle of a russian invasion…

Damn.

— Respecting Decisions Bandwagon (@Sharkonwheels) March 9, 2022

Yes, the russian troops keep shelling Ukrainian cities. And yes, delivery services work. Just like the majority of businesses that keep functioning, businesses have set the new priorities: support the army and the civilians regardless of the circumstances. And to be honest, what circumstances could require more support than a full-scale war?

In general, Ukrainian tech companies arranged (or assisted with) relocation for those willing to move temporarily to the central and western parts of the country or abroad. The situation is more or less the same across the companies, so we’ll focus on the QA Madness’s experience.

Relocation. Unfortunately, even the best well-thought-out relocation plan turns out to be useless in a situation like this. Being ready for a war theoretically and in practice are two different things. In the end, you end up with too many unknowns, and it is impossible to prepare for something you don’t know will happen.

Support. The HR team keeps in touch with all team members to stay aware of everyone’s whereabouts and well-being. Safety – physical, psychological, and financial – have always been the greatest priority for QA Madness. One of the first decisions was to save everyone’s job and provide full compensation regardless of their ability to work. QA specialists took on some of the tasks on other projects to help out. Our company chat became active after the New Year celebration and hasn’t been silent for a day since February 24. Everyone can share news and jokes, as well as speak up and discuss the things that bother them.

Working environment. Depending on the location, people stay with family or friends, in rented apartments, or volunteer centers. Each team member has the minimum set of devices necessary for the job tasks, and we are working on upgrading the device infrastructure.

Working hours. We have many people volunteering during the day and working in the evening, during the curfew. The company allows the team members to set the priorities on their own. Responsibility and motivation are among QA Madness’ key values. We have a reliable team that gets their work done without micromanagement or extra reminders.

Clients. Our clients understand the situation and fully support the team. We are really grateful for this. Besides agreeing to more flexible working hours during the first days of the war, many suggested their help and donated to support Ukraine. Some decided to expand their QA departments by engaging more of our specialists. All the projects scheduled to start after February 24 have already started. Our Sales Team keeps discussing potential projects and opportunities.

Processes. We came back to work a few days after the war started. By the beginning of March, 85% of people were working full-time or part-time. In general, the war hasn’t affected productivity. The company remains financially healthy. By the end of March, we were fully back on track.

Long story short, working during the war isn’t an easy task. Nevertheless, Ukrainian tech businesses manage to ensure business continuity – for the sake of their teams, business partners, and the country’s economy. And to be honest, that’s simply amazing.

Technology, Diplomacy, and Social Media

We’ve got used to Elon Musk doing business via Twitter. We’re less used to Twitter being one of the key tools of international diplomacy.

It took a month for russia to become the champion in a number of the sanctions imposed on a country. And one cannot underestimate the effort of Mykhailo Fedorov who actively works for the digital blockade of russia.

“With such shrewd online maneuvers, the deputy prime minister has emerged as one of Ukraine’s most visible leaders, a digital savant marshaling global tech companies and local resources in a conflict he has begun to call “World Cyberwar I.” Thanks to his office, Ukraine boasts a formidable offensive online, even as its forces play defense on the ground.” – The Washington Post

Fedorov is the Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the country’s Vice Prime Minister. Recently, he’s been featured in numerous interviews for the western media, sharing the novel experience of leading the digital frontline.

In 2022 modern technologies are one of the best response to tanks, rockets and missiles. I’ve addressed to the biggest tech giants to support the sanctions for Russian Federation. We asked them to help us stop this outrageous aggression on our people!

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 26, 2022

Constant reminders that businesses cannot be apolitical resulted in a growing digital blockade of russia. Without exaggeration, it erases decades of technological progress and will take decades for the country to revive this niche. But that’s a subject for another article.

“The digital blockade we see now is unprecedented in the world’s history. It seems that putin and his government underestimate the influence of the digital economy on the future. The fact that such companies are leaving the country should be horrifying. […] The IT and creative communities create an added value. Shares in tech companies are more expensive and more valuable than shares in industrial companies. […] This digital blockade will make people who create the added value leave the country, and it will accelerate the economic downfall.” – Fedorov in the interview for BIHUS info

Technology Against Propaganda

Occasionally, people from all over the world call out to some hypothetical “good russians,” who are against the war and don’t deserve to suffer for what one crazy old man does. Well, things are much more complicated.

In short, it’s not a secret that russian ideology thrives on the propagandist media. As a result, the majority supports putin’s actions, including the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Blocking the propagandist channels and thus restricting access to propaganda was one of the main goals.

YouTube took down some videos that contained hate speech and calls for violence. Then, Meta and Twitter marked the accounts of russian and Ukrainian government officials and channels, adding some clarity for users.

We intend to help Russians and the world to know the truth. I’ve contacted @YouTube to block the propagandist Russian channels — such as Russia 24, TASS, RIA Novosti. If they are afraid of speaking the truth, so we should stop this flow of poisonous lies.

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 26, 2022

Then, however, came another controversy: if the blockage continues, how would russian people already devoid of independent media get access to true information? Fedorov commented on this intention:

Our goal is not to block the informational sources for Russians, but to engage youth, proactive and smart people. Your tsar leads you to nowhere. You should act now! I’ve contacted Meta on blocking Facebook and Instagram for citizens of Russian Federation.

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 26, 2022

There are several things people should understand about this situation. Firstly, just like the rest of the sanctions, blocking social networks supposedly would encourage at least the young and proactive to speak up. But as it turned out, the russian citizens would rather go on with hate speech and denial than oppose the government. Secondly, restricting access to TikTok and YouTube was the initiative of the russian government. Thirdly, russians living outside russia (in Germany, Italy, Greece, the USA, and other countries) and have free access to any information still support putin, organize demonstrations to show their support of the war, and even abuse Ukrainian refugees (air raid sirens near Ukrainians who fled the war, flat tires, verbal abuse are frequently shared in social media).

The problem of misinformation and post-truth has been around for a while. Ukrainian activists launched the fact-checking platform StopFake back in 2014 when the annexation of Crimea and the russian invasion of the eastern part of Ukraine happened. Along with the independent media, they help (and teach how to) distinguish facts from fiction, truth from propaganda.

A couple of months ago, we addressed the issue of misinformation as a part of the analysis of upcoming software development and QA trends. We supposed that new AI tools for handling misinformation were likely to appear. We also mentioned Reface as an app that can be a serious threat if it falls into the wrong hands. Ironically, the app labeled by the media as “a solution that shouldn’t have been invented” was among the first to join the information resistance – through push notifications to 2M users in Russia and messages to support Ukraine for the global audience.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation

President Zelenskyy has the ambition to make Ukraine the world’s most convenient country in terms of digitally available public services. The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine is the government structure responsible for implementing this into reality.

If I’m not mistaken Ukraine has a quite young Minister for Digitalisation

— Dr Elisa Knittelfelder (@_elikni) March 9, 2022

Not really. He's 31. President Zelenskyy is 44.
This is level is digital transformation is what happens when a country is run by "young people" aka Gen X & Y.
The average age of the US Senate is 64 (up from 63 yrs during the previous session)

— EldRyn Phoenix (@EldRynPhoenix) March 9, 2022

In particular, their goals include:

• 100% availability of all state services online.
• 95% high-speed internet coverage countrywide.
• Involving more people in digital literacy programs.
• Increasing the share of the IT sector in GDP.
• To develop a special legal status for the IT niche.

Among other things, the team launched new services in “Diia” [the Ukrainian word for “action” – ed.], the online state services platform. And lately, this list was extended with “international information campaigns,” “reaching out to tech companies worldwide,” and “setting up Starlink kits.”

Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 26, 2022

On April 1st, Vodafone engineers launched the base station near Irpin in the Kyiv region to restore 2G and 4G connections. Starlink kits were used as the transport network. It’s one of the few cases of enabling the work of a mobile operator via satellite equipment in the world.

During the first days of the war, the state security services turned off all online state registers to protect the personal data of Ukrainians registered in Diia. By the end of March, the services were back on track and working as usual. In between, the Diia team continued rolling out new features. Some of the mentioned features are dictated by the new realities (more details further in the text), and some were planned earlier.

Donations in Cryptocurrency

The Ukrainian government was taking steps to make the country crypto-friendly before the war, and it hasn’t changed after the invasion.

Ukraine is already in top-5 countries on cryptocurrency usage. Today we made one more step forward: Parliament adopted law on virtual assets! This will legalize crypto exchangers and cryptocurrencies, and Ukrainians could protect their assets from possible abuse or fraud.

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 17, 2022

On the second day of the war, the government started accepting donations in cryptocurrency.

Stand with the people of Ukraine
Now accepting cryptocurrency donations. Ethereum. Bitcoin and Tether (USDTtrc20)

BTC — 357a3So9CbsNfBBgFYACGvxxS6tMaDoa1P

ETH — 0x165CD37b4C644C2921454429E7F9358d18A45e14

USDT (trc20) — TEFccmfQ38cZS1DTZVhsxKVDckA8Y6VfCy

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 26, 2022

On March 14, Fedorov announced the launch of the official platform for such donations – with a longer list of currencies available and accepted. It was launched in cooperation with a staking provider Everstake and a cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX. The community has already raised over $60 million.

“Mr. Fedorov is creating a new playbook for military conflicts that shows how an outgunned country can use the internet, crypto, digital activism and frequent posts on Twitter to help undercut a foreign aggressor.” – The New York Times

On March 16, the President of Ukraine signed the Law On Virtual Assets that legalizes the market of virtual assets in the country. The cryptocurrency market is among the most dynamic sectors in the country. The new law opens new opportunities for businesses and is one of the factors that help support the economy.

IT Army & Creative Forces

Cyber attacks on Ukrainian state services are not a new thing. Having a crazy neighbor and being at war for already eight years taught us to strengthen the positions on all the frontlines. As you might’ve guessed, on February 24, the russian forces decided to strike from all directions.

It was a tough night in terms of cybersecurity of Ukraine. We've been protecting our cyberspace all night. Ukraine is experienced and continues to counter non-stop attacks on main informational sources. As of now everything operates stable. Keep calm and don't panic.

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 24, 2022

The Ministry of Digital Transformation initiated the launch of the IT Army of Ukraine to neutralize the russian federation in the informational and cyberspace, as well as counter the fakes. The Ministry of Education supported it, encouraging students and educators with technological backgrounds to join. All willing to join get simple tasks with detailed instructions in a chatbot – just as simple as this.

“We started to counterattack. russia has underestimated our IT potential. There are over 250,000 IT specialists and many companies that specialize in information security, cybersecurity specialists, and marketing specialists.” – Fedorov in the interview for BIHUS info

DDoS Attacks on russian Infrastructure

One of the main tasks of the IT Army was to DDoS russian state websites and propagandist media, which were extremely successful. Approximately a week after the war, a group of activists introduced a software tool for the coordinated attacks with quite an impressive name – ”Death by 1000 needles (DB1000N).”

Earlier, IT specialists introduced similar tools packed in a more entertaining form – casual games for coordinated attacks: “Play for Ukraine”, a replica of “2048”, and “Kobza-2”, similar to the viral “Wordle”. Both are browser games that generate a constant torrent of the automatic traffic for the attacks on the targeted web pages, making them unavailable.

On March 4th, it was announced that Ukraine would be accepted as a Contributing Participant to the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.

#Ukraine to be accepted as a Contributing Participant to #NATO CCDCOE. “Ukraine's presence in the Centre will enhance the exchange of cyber expertise, between Ukraine and @ccdcoe Member Nations, says Col Jaak Tarien, Director of the Center. Read more: https://t.co/PjKiUFJHjj

— NATO CCDCOE (@ccdcoe) March 4, 2022

Attempts to Reach Through the Iron Curtain

There is no better way to describe the situation than using the cliche. Since the first days of the war, Ukrainian influencers and social media users have been trying to reach russian people with news and explain what was really happening. However, it seemed that no one was there to listen.

While some social media users engaged in virtual fights in comments, IT specialists were busy with a different task – working on the face recognition tool. This AI solution uses photos of abandoned corpses of russian soldiers and matches them with photos on social media. After that, specialists contact the families or friends of the dead. Another source of information is security footage – from homes and organizations, as well as leaked footage from Belarusian postal offices russian soldiers visited to mail the looted items home.

The purpose is to inform families and friends of the dead, as well as spread the truth about the so-called “special operation.” Unfortunately, it is still complicated (or rather impossible) to communicate with russian people. The majority of responses are either swears about fakes or glorification the actions of the russian soldiers.

NFT Collectibles for Fundraising

One more interesting initiative is Meta-History: Museum of War – an NFT-museum of the war of putin’s russia against Ukraine. The purpose of this platform is to preserve the memory of the events, spread truthful information about the war crimes against the Ukrainians, and collect donations. Blockchain, art, and history come together.

“Currently, the Ministry of Digital Transformation works not only with developers but a wider range of professionals, including designers, and video production specialists that deal with both public and private tasks. […] Our entire IT community has always been focused on creating something valuable, not attacking someone and looking for enemies.” – Fedorov in the interview for BIHUS info

The concept of the online museum is interesting both in terms of technical implementation and the concept itself. Every day of the war has its own exhibition – a collection of digital artifacts, each featuring a piece of news, usually a post or a tweet. A person follows the event along with the emotional response to these events. The first part features the works by the Ukrainian. The museum will also include works by artists from all over the world.

While Russia uses tanks to destroy Ukraine, we rely on revolutionary blockchain tech. @Meta_History_UA NFT-Museum is launched. The place to keep the memory of war. And the place to celebrate the Ukrainian identity and freedom. Check here: https://t.co/IrNV0w54tg

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 25, 2022

Ukrainian artists and activists, however, have started fundraising through NFT platforms even earlier. Below are some of the interesting collections.

• Holy Water, a Ukrainian IT startup, announced an open call for visual creators to donate their artworks and join forces for fundraising.
• Ukrainian Renaissance, a collection by Isobar digital agency, shows Ukrainian cities destroyed by war to raise money to restore those cities.
• Ukrainian Power Artifacts. FFFACE team introduced a three-piece NFT collection to manifest Ukraine as a symbol of the fighting spirit, hope, and power.
• The collection Ukraine’s Angels portrays heroic defenders of the country, shielding peace and prosperity.
• From Ukrainian artist for the Ukrainian army is the reinterpretation of popular symbols of Ukrainian culture and history.
• The creators of Putin Huilo Art picture numerous ways of how the dictator can end up.
• Vandalz For Ukraine is a collaboration between Wladimir Klitschko and WhIsBe.
• The project Mom, I see war is about to launch. Currently, the team is collecting drawings by children about the war in Ukraine.

All of the listed collections will donate the raised funds to support the Ukrainian Army and civilians.

Launching the Tech Solutions Ukraine Needs Now

You must have already grabbed the main idea: Ukraine aims to become and remain a technologically advanced country regardless of the circumstances.

You can’t add new cards «Мир» in Apple Pay; as well as pay using previously added cards. Thanks @Apple for being stick to the principles!

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 24, 2022

We’ve been keeping track of the new digital solutions and listing all of them during the first days of the war. But eventually, it became too complicated given the number of tools and platforms that appeared or were updated to meet the needs of people living through the war.

What’s new?

• New casual online games allowed anyone to join a DDoS attack on russian websites.
• New mobile apps were released, and some of the widely-used were updated.
• Chatbots have proved to be an effective solution – easy to launch and convenient to use. So far, they are the leading solution for various purposes.
• Several maps – countrywide and local – have been created for easier navigation, access to food and medicine, and air ride sirens tracking.
• Online platforms mainly for search, booking, logistics, and reporting purposes were launched by businesses and volunteers.
• News and media platforms that communicate the truth about the war in Ukraine appeared. The majority of the media changed their focus and have been reporting the news since February 24th.

What’s covered?

• Safety: air sirens, shelters, internet in shelters, State Emergency Service, information on missing people.
• Health: map of open pharmacies, chatbot for online consultation for children and adults, mental support.
• Transport & relocation: support for temporarily relocated people and refugees during and shortly after evacuation.
• Humanitarian help & logistics: state and private organizations launching platforms to provide full information for companies and individuals about the resources and their transportation.
• Housing for refugees: platforms compiling the temporary housing options for those who left their homes and need a place to stay.
• Border crossing: real-time queues updates and chatbots for different border crossing points.
• Animal help: information and assistance for those evacuating with animals.
• Work & financial aid: platforms where people can leave requests for financial aid or work (the latter are dedicated specifically for Ukrainians).
• Backup for Armed Forces: apps and chatbots for reporting saboteurs, suspicious individuals, and delinquencies.
• Reporting war crimes: chatbots and platforms for reporting war crimes, property damage, destruction, ecological hazards with proof, and fundraising to counter the consequences.
• Volunteering: platforms launched for easier and smarter cooperation during the war, connecting those who want to help with organizations and enthusiasts who need more members.
• News & media: websites illustrating the events, countering fakes, and explaining in detail the historical and cultural context of this war (targeted mainly at foreign readers, who are out of context and don’t always get the details correctly).
• Business continuity: resources aimed to provide information on businesses already functioning and controlling the health of business operation and economic stability.

DIIA

Diia is a mobile app, a web portal, and a brand of e-governance in Ukraine launched in 2020. The goal of the platform is to enable the availability of public services paperless and available online. We won’t describe the functionality and opportunities in detail but focus on the updates.

16 mln Ukrainians use Diia. Even during the war, we work steadily and launch new services. pic.twitter.com/3JqzwWVxEk

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 26, 2022

• During wartime, the team was able to launch cash payouts to people who have been forced to resettle from areas that were badly affected by combat.
• The payouts for vaccination, which initially were reserved for culture, sports, and entertainment now can be donated to the Armed Forces of Ukraine or used otherwise.
• The button for donations was added so it is easier now to donate money through the official channels.
• Diia has received an embedded free television and radio to have free access to the news all the time.
• Service users can also access the eDocument – a temporary digital document that features passport and taxpayer’s data. It is convenient since state records were temporarily turned off while some people were forced to relocate without all necessary documents.
• The app has got a built-in connection to a chatbot that allows users to report the location of enemy forces, assisting the Ukrainian Army.

New impressive statistics from @diiagovua: 257K Ukrainians used the chat-bot eVorog. People are actively reporting on military hardware, troops as well as war criminals. We work 24/7 to proceed the data. Every enemy will be found and destroyed. To report: https://t.co/mAJ1ILeWT7.

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) April 16, 2022

According to Fedorov, the team was able to launch such a variety of services in just a couple of days since the war erupted thanks to crowdsourced intelligence.

Kyiv Digital

Kyiv Digital, an application for navigation in Ukraine’s capital, has also got several updates that are very useful for those staying in the city:

• Links to helpful information resources.
• An air raid sirens alarm.
• Integration with a map of bomb shelters.
• Integration with a chatbot to report the crimes or location of enemy forces.
• Integrations with major news and communication channels.
• Maps of working pharmacies, businesses, etc.
• A built-in section for donations to Come Back Alive.
• Integration with a housing search platform for temporarily relocated.

Before the war, the app allowed users to top up their transport cards, buy e-tickets, and get updates and announcements about the events in the city.

Mobile Apps

Ajax Systems, the developer of the most awarded wireless security system in Europe, launched a siren app “Air Alert.” It doesn’t require registration, doesn’t collect user data, and works even in silent mode. The application has been constantly updated, and the company handles urgent fixes immediately.

One more app, eTryvoga [the Ukrainian word for “alarm” or “alert” – ed.], was developed by IT volunteers. It follows the already familiar design of Diia. The design files are in open access and allowed to be used as a standard for all government platforms.

Several applications added integrations with major funds and volunteering organizations or allowed donating bonuses to a variety of initiatives.

Maps

Maps may be not the most complicated tech solution, but they are helpful if not life-saving. So, one of the first things published was a detailed map of bomb shelters in Kyiv that covers all city districts. The categories of shelters are specified (basement, underground parking, metro station, etc.).

A few days later, a map of opened pharmacies across Ukraine (with a checkbox for insulin availability) was published. A real estate research platform launched the map of pharmacies, delivery services, gas stations, and supermarkets that are currently working.

The government initiated the launch of one more map – the map of destructions. The activists and victims are sharing the information about the destroyed objects – from bridges and roads to housing, schools, churches, etc. – with photos before and after the russian invasion. This information will help plan the rebuilding and restoration in the future.

Online Platforms

There is a long list of foundations that have been functioning since 2014 or so, supporting the army and civilians in the eastern part of Ukraine. After February 24, several new online platforms for fundraising, volunteering initiatives, and support have been launched.

Fight for Ukraine is a platform for enlistment to the International Legion for non-residents willing to fight alongside the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The website shows the statistics of visits with figures for every country. russia is displayed in red. It is the only country with negative statistics, and instead of visits, you can see the number of dead russian soldiers.

Ukraine Helpers is an online hub of verified aid collection and donation centers. It is created in collaboration with entrepreneurs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. The platform is especially helpful for foreigners.

Ukraine Now is a global decentralized initiative that brings together volunteers, hosts, drivers, suppliers, employers, and those seeking help with any of the mentioned points.

People for Ukraine is a platform developed by YouControl, with support from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the KOLO Foundation. Users can track the needs of the military and provide the necessary resources and avoid chaotic purchases. You can also donate through the site.

#SaveUkraineNow is a coordination center aimed to analyze, collect, and send any sort of help to places that are in dire need. The logistic platform collects and analyzes data in real-time to distribute the aid efficiently. The platform also works for donations and helps volunteers.

Prykhystok [the Ukrainian word for “shelter” – ed.] is a platform where refugees can find temporary shelters, and those willing to house temporarily relocated people can post their ads.

One of the most creative fundraising platforms was launched by the Ministry of Digital Transformation. It is called Send putin to Jupiter. It collects funds for the Armed Forces and rebuilding the destroyed infrastructure by sending the dictator to Jupiter – at least, virtually.

Feed the Zoo is a platform that stands out from this list. You may have seen the video about zookeepers and volunteers evacuating animals from dangerous zones. The majority of families refuse to leave their pets behind. And while many Ukrainian zoos remain closed, people continue to buy tickets to support them. The platform features information about zoos that need help, their contacts, and ways to donate. It also shows a list of Ukrainian animal shelters that need financial support or assistance with evacuation.

Another set of resources focuses on the aftermath – war crimes and destruction. Several online platforms allow people to report the events and damage they witness.

Registration of war crimes committed by Russia is a website that explains how to document and report a war crime so the evidence is suitable for usage in the court later. All witnesses and victims can help collect the information for the international prosecutor.

Russia will pay, unlike the majority of the resources, has only a Ukrainian version. This is a collaborative initiative by the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy, and Kyiv School of Economics. The purpose is to create an extensive list of everything ruined as a result of russian aggression. This information will help the government to estimate the losses and use the data as evidence in international courts.

The platform Culture Crimes was launched by the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy and Regional Center for Human Rights to collect data specifically about the ruined and damaged cultural monuments. Users can also report about people wounded or killed during the attacks.

Some initiatives are aimed to support Ukrainian specialists and businesses – not through donations, but through providing jobs and buying Ukrainian products. Besides financial help and investing in the country’s economic stability, it will help people around the world discover more brands (many of which are truly impressive).

So, the Berlin-based Ukrainian entrepreneurs started a job search platform UAtalents. Temporarily relocated specialists or those who lost their jobs can find offers from both Ukrainian and EU employers.

A design lab O0 Design launched a platform Spend With Ukraine, where users can explore and order products created by Ukrainians. The website features several categories, including gadgets, education, fashion, home, and services.

Chatbots

Many businesses have been using chatbots for a while. They are very functional, easy to set up and allow automating support and order placement with little effort. Given an easy integration with messengers and quite simple development, chatbots are a prevailing solution when it comes to reporting and requesting information.

There are bots for collecting information on the location and movement of enemy forces and machinery, reconnaissance groups, saboteurs, and war crimes. For example:

• FindOkupant was launched by volunteers in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine and Come Back Alive.
• STOP Russian War is one more chatbot by the Security Service of Ukraine.
• Avenger Bot (launched by Cyber Police for reporting marks on the roads and buildings).
• Taras-bot collects reports about the detected shells and bombs that didn’t explode and other weapons.
• War 2022 | Ukraine | Crimes of occupants gathers information on war crimes.
• TRIBUNAL.UA also collects reports on war crimes against civilians.

Local activists also use chatbots for easier coordination between volunteers. For example, an architecture and design studio “balbek bureau” which is developing a project for refugee settlements created a chatbot Kyiv Volunteer. The bot connects people who can provide aid (medicine, food, clothes, etc.) and those who can deliver the aid.

Back to information warfare, Ukrainian tech companies created several solutions that help deal with fakes.

• An IT company KitSoft developed a bot called SmartNews that gathers information from official sources. Users can sort this news based on the keywords.
• The bot StopRussia | MRIYA collects links to suspicious news resources. All reports are reviewed by moderators. They create lists of those that do spread fakes and provocations, so users can be sure to report them.
• The company Master of Code Global created a UA Anti Spam Bot that prevents the spread of the strategic data and traces stop-words. The bot activates when someone in a chat sends a message with such words (e.g. “explosions”, “where,” questions about locations, etc.).
• Perevirka [the Ukrainian word for “check” – ed.] also recognizes fake news. Users just need to send a link, and an AI assistant texts back in a few minutes with a verdict.
• The Boycott Russia bot allows users to check a company’s official position regarding the war in Ukraine. You can enter a company’s name and immediately learn whether it has left the russian market.

These are only some of the names. The total number of new chatbots is much bigger, and they cover different aspects of present-day life and realities.

Browser Games

Reader discretion advised – some brutal content is coming. Game dev couldn’t just watch passively. Besides the Bayraktar simulator in the Diia app, there are several more games that can be a good way to reduce stress.

“Musk vs Putin”. This is an allusion to a well-known and kind of comic storyline. Elon Musk challenges the russian tyrant to a fight for Ukraine.

I hereby challenge
Владимир Путин
to single combat

Stakes are Україна

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2022

As you can guess, the kremlin doesn’t respond, but ramzan kadyrov, the Head of the Chechen Republic, does. The creators considered that this ridiculous verbal fight could make for good gameplay. Who would miss a chance to take down both villains using only one left hand while “Chervona Kalyna,” the song of the Ukrainian resistance, is playing in the background?

#SLAPUTIN. This game is based on the other reference. A woman suggested a russian soldier put some sunflower seeds in his pockets. What for? In case he dies the sunflowers bloom. No one dies in this game, but you can take a sunflower and slap putin (multiple times, of course).

Putin Caput. A Ukrainian developer has created a new version of tanks. Now, you get a tank with a blue-and-yellow flag to play against the vehicles with Z symbols. And instead of the base, you get to protect the Ukrainian emblem.

Fight for Ukraine. In this game, users get to play for President Zelenskyy. You can beat russian soldiers, kadyrov, and putin himself with a mace. At the end of the gameplay, there is a link to NBU in case you want to make a donation and support the army.

Brut’s Grave. This one is a bit more violent. The “Tetris” logic was paired with the graphics picturing the bodies of dead russian soldiers in various forms.

Browser games are the fastest to develop and don’t need to undergo moderation by a store. That’s why we’ve got a bunch of them so fast. And looking at the last item on the list, we can be sure that some won’t pass it if a mobile version appears.

News, Reporting, and Poetry

Last but not least, several news platforms were launched. The information resources mentioned further can be of help for foreign readers who are out of the East European context but want to understand the situation better.

• War in Ukraine is the official website of Ukraine. All information published there is verified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You can also switch to Ukraine before war to learn more about the country.
• We Are Ukraine was created by enthusiastic crisis management and communications professionals. Their purpose is to ensure that people understand the significance of the war in Ukraine in the global context and its outcomes.
• The website russia’s losses has a very straightforward name: it shows the approximate assessment of the russia’s losses. The information is updated daily, and you can click through previous dates to view the dynamics.

If you are an Instagram user, you can follow the online media “Prostir” [the Ukrainian word for “space, place” – ed.] to learn more about the Ukrainian history and “Svidomi” [the Ukrainian word for “aware, conscious” – ed.] to get true news and interesting materials about the socio-cultural context of Ukraine.

Finally, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy launched the platform Poetry of the Free, which has become an anthology of war poetry. The poems are mostly in Ukrainian so far, but people can upload their poems in any language, there are no restrictions.

To Sum Up

Some say we are witnessing the first full-scale digital war. Maybe experts will recognize it as one officially someday. But it is not that important. It is more interesting to analyze how technologies shape the experience people in Ukraine are going through – at all levels.

A war in a digital age means people all over the world can track the timeline on Twitter and TikTok, following numerous individual experiences in real-time. Thanks to social media, Ukrainian can keep in touch with each other. They get more information to make better decisions – in particular, about whether to relocate and where to go. Thanks to social media, Ukrainians get a chance to be seen and heard.

As Peter Pomerantsev admits in his article for the Economist, “[…] this desire to be seen is not just about identity; it’s also about security. Being seen by the world means that there is less chance that you will get killed.” That’s something other countries invaded by russia through the years lacked. Nowadays, Ukrainians will do anything but keep silent.

The war in Ukraine didn’t start on February 24th, it started eight years ago. During all this time, it was localized in two regions in the eastern part of the country. It could go unnoticed or be ignored abroad. It didn’t have the same scale or consequences for Ukraine. Still, many people were fighting, assisting, and preparing for what comes next.

“A stalled 40-mile long russian convoy of tanks and military equipment that was coming down from Belarus at the beginning of the war that was going to circle Kyiv never arrived. There were many speculations about why the convoy stopped. […] It turns out Ukrainians stopped the convoy through a series of night ambushes carried out by a team of special forces and drone operators on quad bikes, which began eight years ago as a group of volunteer IT specialists and hobbyists designing their own machines.” – The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian IT specialists and enthusiasts immediately joined the digital resistance. Focused mainly on foreign markets, the Ukrainian tech companies support the flow of income in USD/EUR. Both private and government sectors keep working on the new initiatives to adjust to the wartime realities and prepare the background for the recovery (because victory is the only scenario Ukrainians accept).

The price Ukraine pays for its freedom is tragic. But it has revealed the true potential of the country and its people to those who haven’t heard a clear impression of Ukraine. The least the rest of the world can do now is continue discovering the Ukrainian IT industry and look for new partnerships in the country. Whether you stand for democratic values and appreciate those who fight for them right now, or you are looking for a team that can ensure high-quality results regardless of the circumstances, it is about time to pay more attention to the Ukrainian-based IT companies.