The Russian invasion of Ukraine started on February 24, after a series of shocking bombings of the Ukrainian sovereign territory by the Russian military.

In the following days, a full-scale war was unleashed in the territory of the invaded state, with Russian tanks, planes, and on-land forces attacking Ukrainian cities and causing unthinkable devastation currently topping $63 billion and costing thousands of people their lives and millions more – their homes and peace.

However, amid the chaos and horror that the brutal violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty caused, many companies continue working and contributing to the Ukrainian victory in every way they can.

An IT army of Ukraine was formed to resist the Russian online propaganda and dissemination of fakes, and many large Ukrainian IT development companies, joined that struggle for the sake of the victory over invaders.

Here is a story of Ukrainian IT companies’ contribution to the current battle, with a list of resources and suggestions for everyone wishing to join that struggle in any possible way.

What Is Really Happening?

Today is the 43th day (relevant to 7th April 2022 date)of the war and strong resistance of the Ukrainian army.

At present, many large Ukrainian cities, such as Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Mariupol, are regularly attacked by Russian ballistic missiles, Grad ground-to-ground rockets, and firestorms.

Millions of Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes; the civilian death toll has already exceeded 1,000 people, with another 1,500 wounded by Russians. Over 1.5 million children have become refugees since the onset of the Russian invasion.

The country’s infrastructure has been severely damaged, both due to Russian attacks on the strategic military and governmental objects and in an effort of the Ukrainian army to hinder Russian progression through the country on land. Dozens of factories, airports, fuel storages, and buildings have been annihilated, with bridges and urban residential areas suffering irreparable damage.

Therefore, the economic and infrastructural damage resulting from the Russian damage is growing disproportionately every day, putting up to 90% of the Ukrainian population at risk of poverty and extreme vulnerability in the years to come.

Here’s How IT Companies Are Helping Ukraine

Grammarly

Grammarly has been active in the struggle against invaders and support for Ukraine. The company announced a $5 million donation to charity funds supporting the Ukrainian population. The sum comes from over 8 years of Grammarly’s revenues from Russian users.

Grammarly developers also integrated a live messaging system in its app, informing the users about the war and existing options for contributing. They also decided to block all users from Russia and Belarus to prevent access to their products and services. Significant effort was invested in relocating over 600 Ukraine-based staff of Grammarly since the onset of the war to help them continue working and providing for their families.

The company officially stated its position of disapproval and resentment for the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, focusing on its Ukrainian roots and support for the nation. It also encourages its users to protest against the war in Ukraine by all means, either with peaceful protests or with financial donations.

4IRE

4IRE is a Swedish-Ukrainian blockchain development company that does everything possible to help its country function without interruption in war conditions. The company’s administration coordinates the evacuation of the company’s staff and Ukrainian civilians from hotbeds of military conflict.

At the same time, the company conducts active fundraising to support the Ukrainian army and affected civilians.

A part of 4IRE Labs’ team is located in Kyiv and Kharkiv – cities continuously experiencing explosions and air defense alerts. Members of the company’s staff have joined the military and area defense forces to protect their cities and help volunteers by coordinating the transportation of humanitarian aid and purchasing the required equipment and supplies with foreign contacts’ assistance. The company’s board of directors unanimously decided to allocate all revenue from 4IRE operations to finance the Ukrainian military forces. Some of the company’s employees, including the 4IRE partner Gregory Ovsiannykov, have joined the territorial defense forces.

4ire team are contributing to Ukraine’s victory in many ways:

• They have joined the IT army of Ukraine to repel the Russian aggression in the Ukrainian cyber army, which fights against Russian propaganda and the “Russian world” in the worldwide web
• While hiding from bombings in the basements, the 4IRE designers created and deployed an NFT collection #StandWithUkraine deployed on NEAR blockchain. All financial revenue collected from its sale will be allocated to purchasing medications, armor vests, helmets, and financial support for Kyiv’s area defense forces. The NFT collection’s announcement was retweeted by one of the founders of NEAR, Illia Polosukhin, giving the project broad publicity and increasing its outreach.

• 4ire team have created an online platform to support Ukraine, https://standwithukraine.digital/, where every person can find a way, how they can help Ukraine, donate money, provide all kinds of assistance, or cover the current events for the English-speaking audience.
• 4ire team coordinates the work of volunteers helping people who abandon their native cities and flee the artillery attacks of Russians.
• The entire revenue of 4IRE is currently allocated to charity funds to support the Ukrainian army.
• Numerous clients and foreign partners of 4ire Labs company provide explicit support to 4IRE activities, buying NFTs and being open to the renegotiation of project deadlines because of an emergency disruption of regular business activities.

ELEKS

ELEKS provided support to the fund “Come back alive” long before the start of the Russian invasion, donating UAH560,000 to it in January-February of 2022. The company donated UAH600,000 and $50,000 to support the Ukrainian army. The financing increased to UAH600,000 per day starting from February 28, 2022.

ELEKS also established a new office in Krakow, Poland, to relocate the Ukraine-based staff and ensure continuity of its operations. It’s actively informing its followers, clients, and partners on social media about the ways to support Ukraine via volunteering or donations. The company has also set up a volunteering chat in which staff exchange data about volunteering opportunities to help the Ukrainian military and civilians in the hard war times.

Intellias

Intellias has donated UAH1,000,000 to the fund “Come back alive,” with an additional UAH800,000 coming from the company’s employees. Intellias founders also followed the call and allocated over UAH200,000 to this fund. To date, the IT provider is actively evacuating its staff from eastern regions of Ukraine and supplies military packages to staff called to the colors and area defense forces.

Intellias also partnered with Winner Group Ukraine to finance the “Cars for Defenders” project helping to equip the Ukrainian military with powerful vehicles. The company collected over UAH 3 million for this project on its fundraising platform IntelliShare. As a result of these efforts, the Ukrainian army got 20 pickups and jeeps for better mobility in the war-affected areas.

Ciklum

The effort of Ciklum to relocate its staff from hotbeds to safer locations deserves special attention. The company’s staff have been giving evacuation support to employees since the first days of the war. Besides, the international Ciklum consortium has donated UAH1.5 million to support the Ukrainian army and expanded its “From Patriots to Patriots” initiative of donations from its staff revenue.

At present, the company actively conducts fundraising in support of the Ukrainian military, aiming to double the fundraising volume. Ciklum also opened a new development center in Bulgaria in April, giving its relocated employees a new location for residence and uninterrupted work. Ciklum’s employees residing in various countries have joined peaceful protests and demonstrations against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

N-iX

N-iX, one of the leading IT companies from the Lviv IT cluster, donated UAH900,000 to the charity fund “Come back alive.” Its staff are engaged in volunteering and contributing to the cyberwar as much as possible. The company has also established an N-iX fund for the support of its colleagues in the Ukrainian armed forces and area defense, donating $200,000 to it.

N-iX’s Lviv underground parking became a publicly accessible shelter for the civilians fearing the Russian bombings and seeking cover during the alarm warnings. Its Lviv office also functions as a temporary shelter for the relocated staff waiting for housing. The company has activated a contingency plan for evacuating 300 Kyiv employees to safer locations and 150 staff residing in eastern Ukraine before the Russian invasion, acting promptly and effectively at the very start of the war. N-iX also shared its logistic resources for staff evacuation with other IT companies in affected regions.

GlobalLogic

The contribution of GlobalLogic to civilian evacuation and army support is also enormous. The company has donated UAH1 million to the Ukrainian military and provides additional support to employees joining the area defense forces. GlobalLogic welcomes all relocated staff in its Lviv offices and provides evacuation services for those wishing to emigrate to Poland until the military aggression in Ukraine ends.

GlobalLogic’s parent company, Hitachi Ltd., has allocated a $3 million donation to Ukraine and withdrew its business operations from Russia. The company has launched a donation platform with the help of WeSpire to encourage its partners and volunteers to contribute to Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion and support the military and civilians in Ukraine. GlobalLogic covers all transaction fees made via WeSpire and oversees 100% allocation of donations to the approved assisting organizations.

Sigma Software

**Sigma Software **is another Ukrainian IT company actively involved in support of the military and civilians during the invasion. A team of 40 staff members has been providing evacuation assistance for employees from Kyiv, Kharkiv, and other affected locations, together with their family members and pets. The overnight stay facility for 800+ employees, their families, and pets was organized within only a couple of days. The company gave a helping hand to over 1,500+ people not related to Sigma Software. The action group provides temporary rental assistance, supplies clothing and utensils for the displaced persons, and gives office space in Dnipro and Lviv for short-term refugee stay.

The company has already created a broad network of rented spaces for staying up to one month and a well-equipped co-working space for 50 employees to continue stable work. For people who cannot or don’t want to evacuate from their homes, Sigma Software has used the facilities of its established charity fund “Help Kharkiv” to distribute financial and humanitarian aid. It also set up a centralized request management system in collaboration with Epicentr K, Metro Cash & Carry, and Nova Poshta to help civilians affected by the humanitarian crisis in Kharkiv.

How you can help

Regardless of how powerless and vulnerable you might feel in this period, you can do much to support the righteous struggle of Ukrainians against invaders. Here are some ways to contribute as little or as much as you can to join this battle and share the glory of victory with the Ukrainian defenders.

• Donate to support the Ukrainian army and volunteers. You can transfer money to the official bank account of the Ukrainian armed forces opened in the National Bank of Ukraine or via a charity fund called SaveLife.
• Buy NFT StandWithUkraine and join the global blockchain movement #StandWithUkraine. It’s also possible to donate using the official crypto wallets created by the Cyber Police of Ukraine.
• Disseminate accurate and up-to-date information on social media, tell the truth about the tragedy of the Russian invasion. Share posts, stories, and reviews on Google Maps to spread word of mouth. You can check official sources of information in StandWithUkraine.digital
• Call people to wake up and realize the actual state of affairs in Ukraine, putting the propaganda and fact tweaking aside.

Even the smallest contribution will count in this dramatic period in all Ukrainians’ lives, so join the IT army and get active in the fight against Russian invaders. Every voice will be heard, and every good deal will add to the powerful force of Ukrainian resistance to Putin’s aggression.