DAVID KIRICHENKO
The math is brutal: Russia has three times Ukraine’s population and pays soldiers twice as much. Moscow can afford to send wave after wave of troops to die on Ukrainian soil. Ukraine cannot match those numbers.
So Ukraine is building something else entirely—an army where robots handle the dying.
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukrainians across the globe mobilized to defend their homeland. Some picked up weapons, while others contributed with their technical abilities.
Now well in the fourth year of the war, Ukraine’s resilience endures, thanks in large part to its volunteers and tech pioneers racing to out-innovate Russia on the battlefield.
Among them is Lyuba Shipovich, a software engineer and tech entrepreneur who had been running a tech company in New York City. She left the United States and returned to Ukraine in the beginning of the full-scale invasion to join the resistance.
By 2023, she founded Dignitas, a nonprofit dedicated to training soldiers and integrating cutting-edge technologies into Ukraine’s military operations.
“We’re different from traditional charities as we don’t just fundraise and donate gear,” Shipovich said. “We build and test solutions, prove their value, and then advocate for government adoption.”
Why robots matter more than rockets
After nearly three years of grinding warfare, Ukraine faces a stark mathematical reality. Russia’s oil and gas revenues let it offer higher pay to attract new recruits, giving Moscow a significant advantage in replenishing its ranks. Ukraine must turn to technology—as it’s done throughout the war.
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