Geopolitical events over the past three years have forced a rethinking of the global security framework. Ukraine’s battlefield has evolved into an innovation lab for modern defense technologies — transforming not only how wars are fought but also how peace is secured. Drawing insights from the recent Brave1 Defense Tech
Despite bans put in place by the U.S. and Europe on the supply of electronic components to Russia, dozens of Russian microelectronics suppliers continue to obtain and resell imported chips to Russian arms manufacturers successfully. Without these Western chips, Russia would not be able to produce key weapons — like
The following is the Feb. 25, 2025 edition of our Ukraine Business Roundup weekly newsletter. To get the biggest news in business and tech from Ukraine directly in your inbox, subscribe here. After weeks of back-and-forth, during which U.S. President Donald Trump lobbed insults at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy,
One Ukrainian startup has rebuilt the humble walkie-talkie to weather the waves of modern electronic war with Russia. With thousands of Ukrainian soldiers already using their handheld comms devices, NATO is tuning in. Himera, the walkie-talkie startup in question is about to get a new layer of encryption that founder
The following is the Feb. 18, 2025 edition of our Ukraine Business Roundup weekly newsletter. To get the biggest news in business and tech from Ukraine directly in your inbox, subscribe here. Ukraine's natural resources — We'll take them all please It all seemed to be going swimmingly at first. President
Ukrainian weapons startups are finally seeing an inflow of funds from Western investors who have long been intrigued by the Ukraine's defense tech sector but have so far kept their money out of the war-torn country. Financial analysis firm Pitchbook provided the Kyiv Independent with data showing a four-fold rise
In the three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Ukraine has almost certainly become the largest producer of drones in the Western-aligned world. Early workshop tinkering on mainly commercial Chinese drones evolved into steadily more professional and massive production of domestic unmanned aerial systems (UAVs). The industry’s rapid
Ukraine is set to receive 6,000 AI-powered HX-2 attack drones from the Munich-based defense technology firm Helsing.
The following is the Feb. 4, 2025 edition of our Ukraine Business Roundup weekly newsletter. To get the biggest news in business and tech from Ukraine directly in your inbox, subscribe here. President Donald Trump came out on Feb. 3 saying he wanted to make a deal with Ukraine by
Ukraine is already using laser technologies to hit Russian targets, Colonel Vadym Sukharevskyi, commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces, said in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty published on Feb. 3.
Huless, a Ukrainian company developing tethered drone systems, secured over $1 million in private financing, loans, and a grant from Ukrainian Defense Tech cluster Brave1, the company said in a press release on Jan. 30.
Editor's note: This article is an on-site version of KI Insights' The Week Ahead newsletter covering events from Jan. 20-Jan. 26. Sign up here to start your week with an agenda of Ukraine-related events, delivered directly to your inbox every Sunday. The global spotlight will be fixed firmly on Washington
The following is the Jan. 15, 2025 edition of our Ukraine Business Roundup weekly newsletter. To get the biggest news in business and tech from Ukraine directly in your inbox, subscribe here. Metinvest, Ukraine's largest steel producer, said on Jan. 14 that it had suspended operations at the Pokrovsk coking
The Ukrainian government in recent months has been aggressively touting fresh developments in its missile-making. President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the country had built 100 of its own missiles in 2024 as of November. He called for 3,000 “cruise missiles or missile-drones” to be manufactured in 2025. Traditional missiles
Ukraine's government has approved a measure allowing foreign companies to participate in modernizing military equipment for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Defense Ministry announced on Jan. 13.
The following is the Jan. 7, 2025 edition of our Ukraine Business Roundup weekly newsletter. To get the biggest news in business and tech from Ukraine directly in your inbox, subscribe here. It’s hard to fully predict what Ukraine’s economy will look like in 2025. It largely depends
Editor’s Note: This story was sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine. When a sapper with the call sign "Boroda" asked his friends, the founders of the Rovertech company, to create something for demining, and provided them with his own sketch, they seized on the idea.
The domestic drone industry "reached unprecedented production volumes" in 2024, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Dec. 28.
"From what we can tell — it's no longer a secret — Ukrainian long-range unmanned aerial vehicles can hypothetically operate up to 2,000 kilometers," military intelligence spokesperson Andrii Yusov said.
The proposed changes include a revamped recruitment system with "zero tolerance for corruption," improved military training tailored to front-line needs, and integration of advanced technology into training and operational processes.
Some 25 miles south of Ukraine's border with Russia, explosions rumble off in the distance more or less continuously. “We don’t even hear them anymore,” Zhenya chuckles from under first-person-view (FPV) goggles branded with the U.S. company “Fat Shark.” Zhenya and his co-developer for DragoDrones, or DCU, Maksym,
The system was approved after performing reliably in combat testing, the Defense Ministry said on Dec. 9.
The following is the Nov. 26, 2024 edition of our Ukraine Business Roundup weekly newsletter. To get the biggest news in business and tech from Ukraine directly in your inbox, subscribe here. Our most-read article last week was a story about how after Israel repeatedly ignored Ukraine’s warnings and
The day Russia invaded Ukraine, Ivan Kaunov watched from his 23rd-floor Kyiv apartment in disbelief as rockets came down on his city. He was 30, married, and running a fintech startup that was seeing remarkable traction. The scion of a Kyivan family that had gotten wealthy on construction and IT,
The following is the Nov. 20, 2024 edition of our Ukraine Business Roundup weekly newsletter. To get the biggest news in business and tech from Ukraine directly in your inbox, subscribe here. After weeks spent in anticipation of Russia’s next mass attack on Ukraine, Moscow launched its latest, and
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the Israeli investigative outlet Shomrim. The Kyiv Independent is republishing it with permission. After Israeli officials earlier ignored Ukrainian warnings and offers to help counter the threat of Iranian drones, the tides appear to be turning as Israel faces increased drone
The biggest weapons makers in the world convened in Washington, D.C. for the 70th meeting of the Association of the United States Army in early October. It was the third year in a row where Ukraine remained at the center of the event's enormous buzz. Synchronized press releases ensued.
The following is the Nov. 12, 2024 edition of our Ukraine Business Roundup weekly newsletter. To get the biggest news in business and tech from Ukraine directly in your inbox, subscribe here. As Donald Trump prepares to reenter the White House, the biggest question hanging over Ukraine is what his
The following is the Nov. 6, 2024 edition of our Ukraine Business Roundup weekly newsletter. To get the biggest news in business and tech from Ukraine directly in your inbox, subscribe here. Ukraine is launching a 5G pilot project in three cities over the course of the next two years
Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Saudi Arabia, Eric Schmidt said that Russia's war in Ukraine showed how a "$5,000 drone can destroy a $5 million tank."
The following is the Oct. 22, 2024 edition of our Ukraine Business Roundup weekly newsletter. To get the biggest news in business and tech from Ukraine directly in your inbox, subscribe here. As Russia makes its slow and steady advances in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Oblast, its troops are closing
According to the drone's developers, the Wild Hornets group, "Sting" will be able to fly at altitudes approaching 10,000 feet, with a speed of over 100 miles per hour. It is the first drone specifically developed to target Russia's arsenal of Shaheds.
