senior developer/chief science officer Andrew Yakovenko is glued to his computer, not doom-scrolling but rather working on an AI-enabled software tool for a Hollywood entertainment company. The company’s senior developer Anton Linevich, holed up in a small village in the center of the country, is likewise focused on work, checking in with remote teammates via Slack. Senior developer Aleksey Sevruk, who stayed in Kyiv, just joined the Army and is fighting for that city.
ReSpeecher CEO Alex Serdiuk and his team, who worked on creating Luke Skywalker’s voice in “The Mandalorian”ReSpeecher co-founder/co-CEO Alex Serdiuk reports that two of his employees are still in the Kyiv office but that, one month ago, 10 team members relocated to Lviv. He stayed in Kyiv until the first Russian bombs fell, and his whole family headed to western Ukraine . The advantage, he says, is that he is more focused on work.
They all emphasize that they have been in a state of readiness since the 2014 Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine. “The Russian invasion started eight years ago,” notes Serdiuk. Yakovenko adds that, “this is not the first time that Russia has gathered forces at our borders. “They moved a large force for military training there – and then dispersed,” he said. “It was Putin’s way of applying pressure and trying to scare everyone. It’s a political instrument for him, to get what he wants.
Just as many in the West doubted Russia would invade Ukraine, so did many Ukrainians. Still, VideoGorilla’s Yakovenko moved his mother and 93-year-old grandmother out of Kyiv to stay with relatives in Europe. “Even though I didn’t believe Russia would invade, it turned out to be a good decision,” he says. But VideoGorilla’s Linevich and his family stayed in Kyiv. “I didn’t believe Putin was crazy enough to invade the whole country,” he says.