Global companies with information-technology staff in Ukraine are working to stay in contact with software teams on the ground in some of the hardest hit areas of the country as invading Russian forces increasingly set their sights on civilian targets.
Ukraine, which is a popular technology outsourcing hub for U.S. and European companies, employs an estimated 85,000 to 100,000 export services workers, mostly in the IT sector, according to Gartner Inc.
“Sometimes we can hear sirens, and we just go to cellars or underground,” said Artem Horovoi, an engineer for software company Totango Inc., who is based in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. He said he stayed in the city, which so far has not been a target of attacks on the same scale as Kyiv and Kharkiv.
Tymofii Vlasov, an engineer for Totango, spoke with The Wall Street Journal on Zoom from Odessa, Ukraine.
Photo: Totango
Tymofii Vlasov, an engineer for Totango, said he spent the first night running down from his apartment in Kyiv to the shelter, a shed-like structure under the building. “The first two or three days I didn’t sleep at all,” he said. He has relocated to Odessa where he is sleeping on the floor at a friend’s house.
“I hope all of this ends as soon as possible,” Mr. Vlasov said on Monday.
Totango, based in Redwood City, Calif., has a total of 150 employees, 15 of whom are in Ukraine, said founder and chief executive Guy Nirpaz. He said the Ukraine-based workers typically work on projects with its Tel Aviv office, which is in the same time zone.
Totango gave its Ukrainian team the opportunity to relocate to Israel before the invasion, but they chose to stay, Mr. Nirpaz said.
“I did not consider leaving Ukraine,” prior to the invasion, said Mr. Vlasov, who is now required to stay in the country under martial law.
Mr. Horovoi and Mr. Vlasov said Totango has set up virtual meetings for them to stay connected with their Ukrainian colleagues.
Amit Bluman, a senior vice president of engineering at Totango, says the meetings act as a kind of support group for the Ukrainian team. “One of the key points that we’ve understood is that people need to be connected all the time, sharing information,” he said.
“Clearly the most important thing right now is their safety and well-being,” said Mr. Nirpaz. “We’re not expecting productivity or any of that. We don’t have any long-term plans.”
Company Folders Inc., a Pontiac, Mich.-based online service that prints covers for corporate presentation materials for large firms, has a team of seven software developers, engineers and designers in Ukraine, including four at an office in Kharkiv, roughly 25 miles from the Russian border. One of the workers was able to flee the city last week, said Vladimir Gendelman, the company’s founder and chief executive.
Russian forces on Tuesday bombarded Kharkiv with airstrikes targeting public-sector buildings and residential neighborhoods, killing 17 people and injuring dozens more by late afternoon, local authorities said.
Mr. Gendelman said communicating with his team has been difficult, with unreliable internet service, though the company has managed to stay in contact using apps like Slack, WhatsApp, Skype, Telegram and Facebook Messenger. He said the Kharkiv workers and their families were sheltering at home, hiding in hallways or bathtubs during attacks, and staying away from open windows.
“They fear and feel the hail of rockets coming down,” Mr. Gendelman said. “They hear shots in the street. The ground is shaking. Buildings are shaking,” he said.
For now, Company Folders has suspended all operations in Ukraine, leaving the company without ongoing software support and security functions, Mr. Gendelman said.
“The website is the medium we do our business through and it is crucial that it is continually monitored, updated and kept secure,” he said. Without the software team, the company cannot develop new online tools or features, Mr. Gendelman said. And because some of its Ukraine designers work directly on client projects, he added, “that is also moving much more slowly right now as well.”
Miratech Group, a global IT services and consulting firm, currently has 300 employees in Ukraine. One hundred others had left by Tuesday, the company said.
Valeriy Kutsyy, the company’s chief executive, said the company has continued operating, in part by having overseas employees to cover for workers in Ukraine. Some team members have been working 16-hour days to cover for colleagues, he said.
Oleksandr Sinitskyi, an engineer at Miratech, said he left Kyiv Tuesday to move to an undisclosed location with his family. After an explosion near his home, they got in the car and drove out of the city, he said.
Despite these disruptions Mr. Sinitskyi said he continues to work, adding that it helps divert his attention from events. “When you’re always monitoring the news and looking outside, it makes you feel really depressed,” he said.
— Suman Bhattacharyya contributed to this article.
Write to Isabelle Bousquette at Isabelle.Bousquette@wsj.com and Angus Loten at angus.loten@wsj.com
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