Ever since she started working with Trainual, one of Dasha’s dreams has been to visit Arizona.

For over two years, Dasha Tsion, a quality assurance (QA) engineer from Ukraine, has been an outsourced employee for Trainual. She has two Master’s degrees in computer science, has over eight years of experience working in the field of information technology (IT), and lived with her family in Cherkasy — that is, until this past February, when the war in Ukraine began.

“I still remember the first days of the war — the most difficult for all Ukrainians,” Dasha shared. “Shock, regret, confusion, heartbreak. I still have these feelings inside.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has displaced millions of civilians, led to the destruction of cities and infrastructure, and caused a major upheaval in Ukraine’s society. But despite all this, Ukraine’s IT industry, powered by people like Dasha, is still going strong — and helping to keep the country’s economy and continued war efforts afloat.

Fleeing the war in Ukraine

Russia first invaded Ukraine on February 24, besieging the country’s eastern border. Since then, Russian armed forces have wreaked devastation across the country. The U.N. estimates that more than 4K civilians had been killed, not counting the thousands of military casualties on both sides of the conflict.

And as of June 21, more than 12M Ukrainians have been displaced from their homes, with over 5M refugees fleeing to neighboring countries.

Dasha and her parents were amongst those who decided to leave — they couldn’t live under the stress of constantly having to hide in underground subway stations and listen to air sirens roaring overhead. It took them three-and-a-half days to drive to the Ukrainian border (a journey that normally would have taken eight hours), stuck in traffic jams and worried about their restricted fuel.

They eventually made it to Germany, where Dasha decided to take another huge risk — she’d heard that the U.S. opened a humanitarian corridor through the Mexican border for Ukrainian refugees. So she traveled to Mexico by herself and stayed in a refugee shelter there before finally making it into the U.S. Despite the stress of the war and her worry for friends and family, Dasha wanted to fulfill her dream.

“When I heard about Mexico and the U.S. offering a green corridor to Ukrainians, I decided to try and see the people of Trainual,” Dasha said. “For my small dream of meeting everyone here.”

The power of the Ukrainian IT industry

Dasha works with Trainual through her employer Everlabs, a web and mobile development company based in Cherkasy, Ukraine. Trainual has worked with Everlabs for IT and QA support since March 2018 — just two months after the Arizona-based company launched. They even have a dedicated QA team made up entirely of Everlabs employees.

And Trainual is just one of many companies who outsources IT work to Ukraine. During her time at Everlabs, Dasha had worked with other companies in the U.S. and Switzerland. And Ukraine has also exported computer services to countries like the United Kingdom, Malta, and Israel.

In fact, before the war, Ukraine’s IT industry was developing at an incredible pace. In 2021, the industry grew by 36% in exports and employed 285K specialists. Essentially, exports have more than doubled compared to the previous three years.

Right now, Ukraine’s biggest exports — agricultural products and minerals — have stalled because of the Russian occupation. But IT products and services, the country’s third-largest exports, are helping sustain the country’s economy — one that is still heavily reliant on outside aid.

Dasha takes a lot of pride in supporting both her team at Everlabs and her country through her work. Now that she’s based in Arizona, the ten-hour time difference between the southwestern U.S. state and Ukraine means she has a lot of early meetings or late calls. “I want to be as available as possible for my team members at Everlabs,” Dasha stated.

How SMBs can support Ukraine

When the war first broke out in Ukraine, Trainual CEO Chris Ronzio was quick to reach out to Everlabs and ask how they could best support them. And while Trainual had no expectation for the Ukrainian team to resume work during such a precarious situation, the employees at Everlabs actually asked to hop back into their assigned tasks.

Because of Ukraine’s strong digital infrastructure and the IT industry's familiarity with outsourced employment, many of the country’s tech companies are operating at their usual productivity levels. In the first quarter of 2022, during the hotbed of the war, the industry’s export revenue hit a record $2B — up 25% year over year.

And as one of Ukraine’s most stable industries at the current moment, any revenue for IT services goes towards the country’s economy and their army’s continued efforts to fend off Russian armed forces. For any businesses in need of IT services, outsourcing the work to Ukraine is a good way of supporting the country.

On a more personal level, it helps to provide a community of support for those affected by the war. Even though Dasha came to the U.S. alone, she had the entire Trainual team available to help support her. Trainual Chief of Staff, Chelsey Krisay, hosted Dasha in her own home for a time.

“What I’ve found most helpful is talking to someone,” Dasha shared. “This is a situation where you need support, and you can never get enough support. War can ruin you mentally and physically — it can totally change your life. I hope that those who support us and our team won’t stop.”

To learn more about supporting the people of Ukraine, visit the National Bank of Ukraine here.