19-05-2025
Despite Trump's actions and rhetoric, Ukrainian tech workers are laying stakes in the US
With diplomatic tensions on high and a dedicated humanitarian parole program on pause, Ukrainian technologists and entrepreneurs who fled the war with Russia are navigating tremendous uncertainty.
The war and its fallout forced founders and engineers to balance their and their colleagues' safety with building companies. Despite some positive developments, they are nervous and frustrated.
As the war grinds on and negotiations stall, many of these tech workers must also plant roots in the US. For that, they get some help from longer-established members of the Ukrainian diaspora.
As bombs exploded outside his home in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Alex had to make a colossal decision — whether or not to flee, and if so, where to go.
The technologist and startup founder, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of pending immigration status, landed in the US on May 24, 2023, after a 16-country tour with his wife and six-month-old son. A soccer injury to his ACL about 2 months prior to the war exonerated him from the draft that his home country applies to all men between the ages of 25 and 60. But the exemption didn't protect him or his family from the invasion Russia launched in February 2022.
He's here thanks to the Uniting for Ukraine program, which brought in about 158,000 individuals from the war-plagued country, per government data. But the Trump administration paused the program, leaving Alex and thousands of others in the lurch.
Through Uniting for Ukraine, established during the Biden administration, Ukrainians can work and access public benefits in the US for up to two years with the possibility of extension. His stay is almost up, and he's applied for Temporary Protected Status, but hasn't heard whether or not it's been approved.
This ambiguity frustrates Alex. Ukrainians are a positive addition to the US economy, he asserted. Most immigrants like him speak English, are highly skilled and pay taxes, he said.
'I don't understand the logic behind this,' he told 'Why would you not extend this program for us, or just give [us] another status? It doesn't make sense.'
I'm pretty confident about it. The new administration doesn't give a shit about Ukraine.
Alex (pseudonymn)
The tech industry in Ukraine, where IT forms a major part of the economy, claims at least 307,000 specialists, which is a slight increase compared to before the war began. 242,000, or about 80%, live and work in the country. Despite that growth, according to an analysis from the tech research and advocacy organization Lviv IT Cluster, more Ukrainian technologists are moving abroad than in previous years.
Alex is one of those many tech workers who've laid stakes in the US since the war began, either through the refugee program or through work visas.
Ukrainians have dealt with confusion and frustration over messaging and actions from the Trump administration, including mass deportations of other immigrant communities and an Oval Office meeting where US President Donald Trump antagonized his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Several Ukrainian business leaders and technologists spoke to about navigating this all-too-personal crisis while running companies, working in tech and doing what they can to help their community.
Stress piles up because 'we don't know how the Trump administration behaves'
Outside of the Uniting for Ukraine program pause, Alex takes issue with several other actions the Trump administration took since January.
For example, Homeland Security sent out an email telling some program participants that their status was eliminated ' in error,' terrifying him and fellow refugees in the group chats he's a part of. He knows of Ukrainians who are looking for other countries to move to because of the constant uncertainty.
Alex is also upset with the recent minerals deal Ukraine struck in exchange for US military assistance, and wants Ukraine to have access to more American weapons.
'I'm pretty confident about it,' Alex said. 'The new administration doesn't give a shit about Ukraine.'
At the same time, he knows that work opportunities in the US are abundant, particularly in tech. The DC region alone boasts more than 270,000 tech jobs, according to Lightcast data in Tech Economy Dashboard.
Layla Atya, the CEO and founder of the company Zala Technology in Silver Spring, Maryland, immigrated to the US a decade ago. Since the refugee program's pause, the native of Lviv is struggling to bring Ukrainian workers to the United States. She wants to, but noted she's nervous to hire Ukrainians because of 'regulatory consequences,' she's been told by lawyers, but declined to elaborate.
She's had prospective employees reach out to her asking for jobs in an effort for them to stay in the country through a work visa, she explained.
'[Workers want] to be able to not just stay in the country because they have nowhere to go — their houses were destroyed,' Atya told 'but also continue with their professional growth.'
The workers Atya hired when the initiative originally started under Biden have since left the company to work elsewhere, she said.
Nina Sharaievska moved to Florida, near Orlando, one month after the war began — originally flying in to attend a conference for her employer, Softgeni. She eventually relocated to Arlington, Virginia, to lead US operations for the software company, which was founded in Kyiv. Communication between Zelenskyy and Trump has improved since the blowout Oval Office meeting in February, she believes. Aid is still flowing, and that's also a positive sign.
While she feels secure because she has a work visa, Sharaievska acknowledged how strenuous relations have been in the past.
'It is [a] quite stressful time,' Sharaievska told 'because we don't know how the Trump administration behaves.'
Through this tumult, some naturalized citizens have taken matters into their own hands by making the case for aid to Ukraine. Karina Mandell chairs the Baltimore-Odesa Sister City Committee, a cultural exchange organization for the two port cities, and has been visiting Capitol Hill to fight for more resources to where she was born.
When she talks to lawmakers, Mandell, a business development professional who moved to Baltimore County from her home country when she was 7, frames allocating aid and allowing refugees to stay in the US as a national security prerogative.
'As a refugee, you would think that you would come here and finally feel like you could take a sigh and a breath of relief,' Mandell told 'But sadly, the Ukrainian community hasn't been able to do that.'
Coding while bombs detonate
Zala Technology's Atya still has offices and several engineers in Lviv, although some workers have been drafted.
When the war began, she suddenly had to run her business and become an expert in humanitarian aid, she said — getting an MBA didn't prepare her for this. She's helped people move within the country and get access to the internet, for example.
'Suddenly we had to learn how to not just run a business, preserve revenue and clients, but also save our people,' Atya said.
Engineers take calls from bathtubs during air raids, per Atya. While she's been told that the work is a helpful distraction, the war has resulted in the loss of some clients, which Atya understands.
Other tech workers in Ukraine are finding ways out, often to Poland. Andrew, a startup founder who immigrated to the US from Lviv about 20 years ago, employs contract workers in Ukraine. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because of concerns about retaliation.
One of Andrew's employees in Lviv received a notice he'd be drafted into the military. The worker said he needed a week off, and Andrew was immediately concerned, he said.
With no word for four days, Andrew called his sister, who still lives in Ukraine, but the engineer was nowhere to be found.
A week later, the worker signed onto Slack and said he was in Poland. Andrew has no idea how he crossed the border.
'I hear stories that people cross through rivers, the forest,' Andrew said. 'Because they, many of them, are said to die in this war.'
Establishing roots in the US
Several technologists and business leaders told they've established support networks and routines in the US.
Softgeni's Sharaievska has a daughter in eighth grade who's made friends and loves their neighborhood in Arlington. Her hobbies are singing and fencing, and she helps her mom with the pronunciation of English words.
One founder from Kyiv aims to help people with that, as well as prepare for interviews for the kinds of jobs that could help fellow Ukrainians stay in the US.
Philadelphia resident Oleh Savchuk founded a tool for people to do mock interviews and get feedback. Before the war began, Savchuk had already planned to immigrate to the US through a work visa sponsored by his employer, EPAM Systems. The invasion delayed that move to August 2023, when he came over with his wife.
In creating Prepin, Savchuk was partially inspired by his own struggles interviewing for his L-1 visa, which is how he's staying in the US.
'The United States is [a] completely different market, with completely different cultural fits, with [a] completely different community,' Savchuk told 'Definitely, you need to practice more.'
