13 interviews with Ukrainian SEO:s about doing SEO during war

I have a hard time distancing myself from the war. I find the event so disturbing, it’s like sand in my eyes. The main reason for this is that I know that the war might be about the big strategic picture in the media. However, ordinary people in Ukraine need to endure it. When trying to picture myself in the shoes of the ordinary Ukrainian, I came to the conclusion that I would not have wanted to be forgotten about.

 I would like to invite you to join me to help make sure we don’t  forget about the ordinary Ukrainian. Topdog interviewed 12 SEOs on what it is like to do SEO during war. Scoll down further to find the interviews

My inspiration for these interviews was a program from SVT called ”Krigets vittnen” (”Witnesses of war”). Ordinary Ukrainians are allowed to tell their story about the war without filters. Few productions have gripped me like this one. So I decided to interview people who are in the same line of work as my colleagues and I. I believe the voices of ordinary people are more interesting than the news and I hope you feel the same.

What can you do to help Ukraine? 

Offer employment: 

The Ukrainian economy is destroyed. GDP is down 40% and the export of grain this year will be 50% less compared to 2022. Very few factories or mines are operating. The only fully functional part is outsourcing of services. Hiring any of the people or agencies below will support Ukraine in the best of ways. Work is better than charity. If you find this hard and uncertain, you can indirectly support Ukraine by doing business with Topdog. We continuously hire freelancers in Ukraine. We supported the Ukrainian economy with +400 000 SEK in fees to freelancers last year and it will be more this year.

 Charity:

Below is a list of the charities talked about in the interviews. Please look into them to see if any of them are important to you. Please try to support them with money.:

• Come Back Alive – https://savelife.in.ua/en/
• Car to Donate – https://cartodonate.com/
• Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation – https://prytulafoundation.org/
• Alexandr Lushin – https://www.facebook.com/alexandr.lushin
• United 24 – https://u24.gov.ua
• Razom – https://www.razomforukraine.org/
• Nova Ukrane – https://novaukraine.org/
• Armed Forces of Ukraine Support Fund
• Humanitarian Aid Fund
• Chumatskiy shlyah
• The Sergiy Prytula’s Foundation
• MTÜ SAB UA

Topdog has been supporting several charities. You can read about them here.

Share and talk about the personal stories

Maybe there was one story that touched your soul. Share it and tell others about it. Tell the world why it was important to you and invite others to read the stories. Do not underestimate the effect you can have on others. One man who speaks up can bring down tyranny. This person can be you. We all have this capability in us.

The interviews

Below are 12 interviews.

Yurii Lazaruk

Interview with Yurii Lazaruk, Community Manager at CodeControl and 9am.works/freelancer

What happened when you woke up on the 24th of February?
I didn’t believe it. I thought it was the noise of a very loud garbage truck, but after I heard military jets flying somewhere above the dark clouds, and I didn’t know if they were ours or the enemy’s, it was really scary. The first thought I had was: how to protect my family?

After bringing them to a safe place, I united all of the active members of our expert communities into one group called Ukrainian Hero Help. The goal of this new community was to bring together Ukrainian SEO people to support each other, share vital information, and help the army and the entire country.

Also, I tried to help my fellow community members by collecting requests from SEO, PPC, marketing, and sales experts, and finding them jobs with the help of international experts communities and great people within them.

What is it like doing SEO and working post 24th of February for you?
I am no longer an SEO expert because I switched to building communities and connecting people, but in times like this, you really understand the community power! After the 24th, Ukraine became the biggest community in the world, when the whole country united and became one huge mechanism that works to reach one goal!

Understanding this impacted my professional life greatly, and nowadays, I am building communities worldwide, but the best example for me is still Ukraine and its people.

How has the war changed you?
First of all, my motto changed to ””Nothing else matters as long as you and your family are healthy and alive.””
Even though I have a lot of doubts about what our future life will be, like in Eminem’s song:

”I act like shit don’t faze me
Inside, it drives me crazy
My insecurities could eat me alive..”

I am still acting like shit doesn’t faze me, keep spreading what’s going on in Ukraine with the world through people I talk to, keep supporting our Ukrainian people, and I am sure that working together, step by step, we are bringing our victory closer!

And secondly, fuck the material stuff, you can lose it overnight, but all you need is great people around you, together you can do and achieve anything!

What charity organisation do you think the reader of this interview should support?
I am supporting 3 Ukrainian funds:

• Come Back Alive
• Armed Forces of Ukraine Support Fund
• Humanitarian Aid Fund

And I have my own small fund just in case some community folks need short-term cash support.

Any information about your war/work experience you want to share.
I was honoured to speak at the biggest international community builders conference, and shared this experience here. 

and shared my war experience.

Igor Rudnyk

Interview with Igor Rudnyk, CEO at collaborator.pro

What happened when you woke up on the 24th of February?
I woke up because I heard explosions and the sound of car alarms. It was terrible, but “terrible” is too light to describe my feelings.
Next, we packed some of our staff and then we drove more than 1 thousand kilometres to the western part of Ukraine.

What is it like doing SEO and working post 24th of February for you?
It depends on the period.
At the beginning, I couldn’t just eat. I lost nearly 10 kilos of weight. I was shocked.

Then we started to do something. The idea of SEO and marketing communities was that we need to inform Russian people what is going on and they will go out to the streets, but … it didn’t work.

I had a huge network with Russian SEO specialists before 24th of February and my colleagues too. And after the beginning of the war, they had just kept silent and were trying to comment on our posts like business as usual. This is totally inexplicable.

Then we concentrate on how we can help our army and people in difficult situations. And of course, a big deal for me was to save our business and workplaces.

Another difficult period was in winter. When we had a lot of trouble with electricity because of Russian missile attacks. That’s why we needed to spend a lot of time on simple daily routines like cooking and eating. Yes, I know, it sounds ridiculous in 2023.

Now we adapted and are trying to do our best in order to develop our business and have the possibility to donate.
But it’s difficult to concentrate because we are checking the news dozens of times during the day and we hear the sound of alarm of missile attacks a lot of times. And sometimes we hear the sound of explosions.

Many of our friends, colleagues, relatives are defending our country now and we are thinking about that every moment.

How has the war changed you?
Russian war against Ukraine moved me to another town. I can’t live at home now. It stole years of my life. It destroyed my friend’s network. And I don’t complain, because other people lost their lives.

On the other hand, we knew more about Ukrainian history and culture. We opened to the world.I believe after Ukraine’s Victory we will take a fair place in the world because Ukrainian people are worth it like any other people in the world. But it won’t return lives and we need to remember this terrible price for freedom.

What charity organisation do you think the reader of this interview should support?
https://savelife.in.ua/en/ — in my opinion, this is the best choice if you want to support Armed Forces of Ukraine. Come back alive is the biggest fund in Ukraine

Any information about your war/work experience you want to share.
I say thank you to each person and every country that is helping us. Russian aggression is not a small regional war, this is a war against western values and lifestyle. We need to stay united for the democratic world.

We can do it only together.

Ukrainian people and me personally pretty much appreciate for huge Sweden support. We’ll never forget it.

Slava Ukraini!

Oleksandr Tsyhanok

Interview with Oleksandr Tsyhanok, Co-Founder of Whitehat.link

What happened when you woke up on the 24th of February?
My hometown Mykolaiv is located in the south of Ukraine. We lived 2 km from the military airfield. I woke up at 4 a.m. to start my work day but decided to sleep for another hour. I set the alarm for 5:05, but at 5 in the morning we woke up with powerful explosions at the airfield. We had our suitcases ready in case of war, we packed our needed things, picked up our parents and went to the north of the city to my grandmother’s home in the village.
Later we found ourselves under occupation for two weeks. Russian troops were stationed 3 km from our house.

The exit routes from the city were blocked by the Russians or mined too.
We were lucky because their goal was Mykolaiv and they entered the village to rob local small shops.
Thanks to our defenders, the north of the region was liberated, and the Russian troops were defeated.

What is it like doing SEO and working post 24th of February for you?
We were able to get to Ivano-Frankivsk with the children on March 17. I remember very well the moment when I opened my laptop for the first time since February 23 and started writing and calling my clients.

I was a freelancer, and, unfortunately, my main clients lost their business due to Russia’s military aggression.
I took on several projects and started looking for new work opportunities. I understood that now I need to work to the maximum to provide for my family, parents and help our army.

In May, my partner and I opened the whitehat.link outreach service. My partner and I often discussed – if it weren’t for the war, how well things would go for us. This is work in constant stress. Explosions, terrible news from other cities of the country, fuel crisis, energy crisis. All this interferes with work. This slowed us down, but did not stop us. People adapt and try to return familiar things to their lives.

How has the war changed you?
It is better to answer this question when the war is already over. Then it will be possible to fully analyse your path and transformation. From what I see now, I have become more categorical. Nervous disorders became more frequent. Energy exhaustion. New diseases.

On the positive side: you value time with your family and children more. You do not pay attention to failures and failures. Everything becomes quite relative. You genuinely appreciate life.

Because you never know whether you will manage to wake up in the morning or not. There are currently no 100% safe places in Ukraine. A rocket can fly into your house at any moment because Russia is a terrorist country.

What charity organisation do you think the reader of this interview should support?
Alexandr Lushin https://www.facebook.com/alexandr.lushin
He assembled a powerful SEO community team that brings cars to the front for our medics.
They also have a project https://cartodonate.com/ – with the help of which any person can donate his car for the needs of our defenders.”

Any information about your war/work experience you want to share.
In this section, I would like to thank all the countries and people who help Ukraine.
I understand very well that this war has affected you too. And you sacrifice your ””normal life”” so that we can win.

Your support and help are invaluable. It gives us strength and hopes that our children will live in a peaceful state and make plans without fear that war will come to their home again.
Together to victory!
Thank you!

Vyacheslav Pisanka

Interview with Vyacheslav Pisanka, Head of SEO at develux.com

What happened when you woke up on the 24th of February?

Until the last, I did not believe that the war had started, I kept hoping that, very early, they started driving piles for the new bridge on the Obolonskaya embankment (in Kyiv). But then I realised that this was the second morning of the war in my life. The first was a similar morning in Luhansk back in 2014.

I woke up my wife, got up, and started to collect the most essential things in our backpacks. Surprisingly, my son did not wake up, and we were able to promptly collect everything we needed. I made a decision not to try to leave somewhere. I remembered how many people were injured in 2014 precisely because of the shelling of columns of people.

I went to a local store to buy food and water. There was almost nothing on the shelves, but surprisingly there were a bunch of protein bars and other unpopular food for panic attacks.

Then we moved everything important to the bathroom and arranged sleeping places there. We glued 3-4 layers of tape on the windows. We watched the news, and every day we decided whether it made sense to move somewhere and where it might be safer for us.”

What is it like doing SEO and working post 24th of February for you?
Only 2 working projects remained out of 11. All laptops worked only on DDOS the whole of March. This was the case until the end of March, but already in April, work resumed on 2 more Ukrainian projects, and in May another 4. It inspired hope and a positive mood as much as possible. Because the shelling did not end either day or night. Clients from the USA understanding put a delay of 1 month and continued cooperation.

How has the war changed you?
Unity.
The first six months of a full-scale war showed Ukraine as a single organism, with everyone and everything aimed at victory, no one had any thoughts of losing this war. At that moment, I must have realised that even after winning, I wouldn’t want to move anywhere. And worldwide support only confirmed my opinion and helped me not to fall into despair in difficult moments.

What charity organisation do you think the reader of this interview should support?
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine (2014), there were enough organizations and volunteers who were bringing victory closer, but after the start of a full-scale war, it became a habit for me to report to ”Come Back Alive”. Of course, at the same time, urgent meetings of volunteers and such meetings as ”for a Bayraktar”, ”for a satellite,” or ”an army of drones” were not missed. So any support would be appreciated.

Any information about your war/work experience you want to share.
Now, thanks to ZSU, we can plan and work more stably. Therefore, I continued my work at Develux.com precisely in the area of strategic planning for the development of departments and areas of services that can be provided by SEO specialists:

• Classic SEO
• SEO analytics and new market research
• PBN
• AI in SEO work

Time dictates very dynamic changes and upgrades of almost all SEO services we are used to. Our task now is to test new methods and technologies in order to improve the quality and scope of our services. I believe that Ukraine will have its own Silicon Valley, with cool startups and companies.

Ihor Shulezhko

Interview with Ihor Shulezhko, Head of SEO at rankup.company

What happened when you woke up on the 24th of February?
I had a 7 AM workout. I woke up at 6:15 and started to get ready. I got on the phone and realized that I was urgently changing my plans. I had a small team of SEO specialists at Rankup.company at the time. I was Head Of SEO on this team.

I remembered that there was no gas in my car and in my wife’s car too. I woke up my wife with the following words: ”Kristina, wake up, don’t worry, the war has started, you and I are going to the gas station now”

We quickly got together and left the house. It was around 6:40 – 6:50 in the morning. Our city had already collapsed. There were traffic jams everywhere. We drove to the gas station, violating all traffic rules. We drove on sidewalks, flower beds, and oncoming traffic lanes.

There was a massive queue at the gas station. We stood for two hours to refuel. Then they returned home. I paid all our staff money. On that day, they decided not to leave the city, because there were massive traffic jams.
I run a YT channel with SEO. In the evening of that day, I recorded an appeal to my subscribers from Russia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1iUGrdL9hU. but it was in vain as time showed later

What is it like doing SEO and working post 24th of February for you?
Now, I’m used to it. The first month, March, we did not work at all. They started working a little in April. It was very difficult mentally. I was always in the format of a nervous breakdown. Regular sirens, missile strikes, bomb shelters. Butcha. Shootings, tortures, and executions of Ukrainian civilians. Information was very much killing performance. I remember very little of what happened in April. The brain somehow filtered everything.

The adaptation took place just in May. In general, it is very difficult to work when sirens sound, rockets are fired, and there is no electricity and no internet. You have to wriggle out. I has become an SEO in Hassle.

How has the war changed you?
Ukraine is suffering a lot. She is bleeding. I am grateful for any help to Ukraine. For any support of my country.

What charity organisation do you think the reader of this interview should support?
We have a Telegram group of SEO specialists. https://t.me/seo_burzh_life. We regularly collect donations to purchase cars for our military medics. Here is an example of the last message https://t.me/seo_burzh_life/696946. We have already bought 20 cars. Now the collection is on the 21st.
I also help my friends who are at the front. We help in the purchase of medicines, drones, and ammunition. Some of my money regularly goes to help my country. It is inspiring that I am not alone, there are millions of us.

Leonid Vergun

Interview with Leonid Vergun, Coo at welldigital.net

What happened when you woke up on the 24th of February?
A co-worker called me and said, ”A war has started! Missiles are already arriving at my friend’s place and I can hear explosions…” I didn’t believe him at first, I thought it was his panic. He was always very anxious and always expected either war or something else bad. But it turned out to be true.

At first there was confusion about what to do and where to start. I called relatives, colleagues and friends, prepared food supplies, gathered the necessities. Then I decided whether to go or not. I decided to stay in Kyiv as long as possible and do my best to help others. And so I stayed until today.

What is it like doing SEO and working post 24th of February for you?
To restructure all the work processes for the new realities, to replace all the services, to set up the work. We had to refocus from the domestic market of Ukraine, which occupied 90% of the work, to Europe and the United States.

We had to work under constant alarm, under rocket attacks, waiting for the offensive. Then to work in case of power, internet and heat cuts. To support other employees emotionally during such a period, to do the work instead of those who cannot work at that time due to various circumstances.

How has the war changed you?
There was a rethinking of values, a different view of the world, people with whom I work and communicate. Started to appreciate more simple things that used to be commonplace and the norm. Changed my goals, made my character stronger.

What charity organisation do you think the reader of this interview should support?
I try to help directly those whom I know personally, those who have suffered or who are fighting for our country. But if I didn’t have such an opportunity, I would probably do it through the ”Povernus Zhuvum” https://savelife.in.ua/en/.

Dmytro Kliushnyk

Interview witg Dmytro Kliushnyk, Head of SEO at howly.com

What happened when you woke up on the 24th of February?
The war began. I took my wife and her parents and began our 48-hour trash treap to the west of the country to the Carpathian Mountains. I don’t really want to remember this period because it was the most traumatic due to the number of victims and destruction that our country suffered in those first days of the war.

The picture of how our car drives alone in the middle of a vast field and a military plane flies right at us – will forever remain in my memory.

What is it like doing SEO and working post 24th of February for you?
I had to mix work and participation in Ukrainian IT resistance activities against large-scale Russian propaganda. I am very grateful to all the guys and girls who kept the country’s information front on enthusiasm and energy drinks. And we were very happy every time in the rashist info field, our actions were called ”large-scale actions by the Pentagon” or something like that :-). It is safe to say that Ukrainian IT and the Digital Marketing Community won that first and very important battle.

How has the war changed you?
I never thought I could look at a dead person and be happy about it. Now, this is our everyday life. The official losses of the russhists now exceeded 160,000 invaders. And I think that I will express the collective opinion of Ukrainians – for everything they have done to our country and our people – this is not enough.

We are waiting for the final collapse of the russhists empire and the victory of light in the fight against this darkness.

What charity organisation do you think the reader of this interview should support?
I will constantly donate to the ”Chumatskiy shlyah” charity fund, which was launched by our company to support the military, especially relatives and friends of our company’s employees.
I also join all charity activities of the fund https://savelife.in.ua/en/ and advise everyone who wants to speed up the victory of Ukraine and the end of this war to do the same.”

Any information about your war/work experience you want to share.
Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to Heroes!

Prokopets Maxim

Interview with Prokopets Maxim, SEO Team Lead at Forwardigitalmarketing

What happened when you woke up on the 24th of February?
The morning of February 24, 2022 started very early. Instead of the usual melody of alarm clocks, we woke up from the explosion of rockets that were carried from different parts of Kyiv. Looking out the window, I saw a large number of people hastily, some without even having time to change into pyjamas, they got into cars and left the city.

There was a terrible panic and misunderstanding of what to do next. Opening the phone and reading the news, I realised that the war had begun. The first thing I called and wrote to all my friends. There was only one big question – what to do next?

When the realisation of reality came we made a decision to collect the most necessary things, documents, money, so to speak – an alarming suitcase. It was necessary to understand where to go, where it is safe and whether it is worth leaving the capital at all.

What is it like doing SEO and working post 24th of February for you?
In general, the attitude to work has not changed, I mean, the desire to engage in SEO has not disappeared.

How has the war changed you?
The war completely changed our life, from the approach to work to daily routine things. After the first 2-3 months, when the understanding came about the number of victims of the civilians and soldiers, that the war won’t end soon, it became clear that one should not waste one’s life now. That it is necessary not only to return to the life stream, but also to do everything possible to bring victory closer.

Along with the feeling of patriotism, a feeling of hatred for the whole nation of Russia also woke up. I never thought that it was possible to hate someone with such force. And this is not about one person, but about a state of many millions, whose population is not capable of analytical thinking, is cruel and has no desire for development and progress.

A goal has appeared that needs to be achieved, and this is not only an early victory in the war, but also the development of the country in the coming years. Oddly enough, the digital direction is just what allows us to present a positive effect in the country’s economy. It’s not only about the financial part, but also about information victory, popularisation of Ukrainian business outside the country, demonstration expertise of Ukrainian marketing specialists, in particular such a tool as SEO, who are professionals in their field.

What charity organisation do you think the reader of this interview should support?
The Sergiy Prytula’s Foundation is currently the leading charitable organisation that not only supports military equipment, but also provides assistance in uniforms, communications, food, as well as assistance to other charitable organisations related to the resettlement of refugees, animal support – https://prytulafoundation.org/

Any information about your war/work experience you want to share.
During the war, I had to change the vector of work to the Western market, as the Ukrainian business completely stopped, especially the local one.

As practice has shown, a primary market review, not only an analysis of the client’s current website, but also a complete analysis of the niche, with detailed analytics of competitors, is simply necessary at the start of work. Any proposal for optimising and promoting a website must begin with an analysis of the market and niche. It is very important to immerse the client in the details of the work and show the final result, what the client receives in the end by paying the funds.

 Karen Chobanian

Interview with Karen Chobanian, SEO Team Lead at Liki24

What happened when you woke up on the 24th of February?
On the 24th, like all Ukrainians, I woke up from the sound of a rocket attack. I started to monitor the information, a little later I stocked up on food, began to think over future plans and sought shelter

What is it like doing SEO and working post 24th of February for you?
The first month, during the storming of Kyiv, it was difficult to work. Especially in the first couple of weeks, when the situation was very difficult and unstable. But you quickly get used to everything – and then I slowly adapted to work in such conditions.

How has the war changed you?
I began to value my loved ones and time more. Started to better think and prepare for any scenarios that might occur (independent internet/power outages, etc). And in general, a lot of things have opened up on the other side, and I’m glad about that.

What charity organisation do you think the reader of this interview should support?
https://u24.gov.ua/ is a verified state source where you can donate from any country. If you are from Ukraine, then donate to your friends or trusted volunteers who buy and take everything you need to the front.

Any information about your war/work experience you want to share.
At the beginning, I chose the role of a volunteer, taking medicine / food to people and delivering some necessary things for the military. Because not everyone could provide themselves with everything they needed at first, and a lot of things did not work, almost nothing was sold in stores. Now I don’t do this, but I donate to military collections and advise everyone. Because goodness and freedom must win.
I wish everyone never to meet a war, and that your sites grow in the TOP of search engines 🙂

Olexander Samoilyk

Interview with Олександр Самойлік, SEO specialist at airslate.com

What happened when you woke up on the 24th of February?
On February 24, I was with my wife on vacation in Zakopane (in Poland). My wife woke me up at 6 a.m, because she saw the news that the war had started. I heard my wife’s despair and tears. At first, we started calling my parents. It was terrible in my heart. We cancelled all the plans we had for that day.

The most confusing thing was that we could not influence the time in any way. Parents were advised to leave the city. My parents lived near Kyiv and on the 3rd day of the war, their village was under occupation until April.

What is it like doing SEO and working post 24th of February for you?
For the first three months, it was difficult to concentrate on tasks. I was constantly in the news because the situation in Ukraine was changing every day. In SEO tasks, it was difficult to adjust all the processes at first. Many workers remained in Ukraine. In the first month, communication with developers and copywriters was at a very low level. Many left their homes and settled in a new safe place. We naively hoped that the war would end quickly and we would be able to return home. And when it became clear that this was for a long time, they began to settle in Poland. In general, the strategy and methods in SEO remained the same as before the war.

How has the war changed you?
The war showed that the most important thing in life is alive and healthy people close to me. Everything else falls into the background. My attitude toward life planning has changed. As practice has shown, in one moment all plans can change dramatically. Therefore, in the new reality, I do not plan anything for more than 3 months.

What charity organisation do you think the reader of this interview should support?
https://www.razomforukraine.org/ and https://novaukraine.org/. Our company cooperates with these organisations. Our team members, including myself, will donate bonuses from the company right here, and the company doubles our donations.

Vladislav Naumov

Interview with Vladislav Naumov, Head of SEO at inweb.ua

What happened when you woke up on the 24th of February?
I woke up around 9 am as usual. I checked the phone and saw a lot of missed calls from my dad, and several texts from friends that the war had begun. I did not hear explosions, because I slept very soundly. It was a terrible morning, there was lots of confusion and panic.

I didn’t have a car then, and it was evident that now there was no way to take my family to a safe place, since there were many kilometres of traffic jams.

What is it like doing SEO and working post 24th of February for you?
In the first few months, all the operations stopped, as our main market is Ukraine. The business’s number one priority was safety of the staff. It was the same for me: work simply was not a priority at the very beginning of the invasion.

After the liberation of Kyiv, business began to slowly recover, and so did we. At the same time, we were trying to find clients abroad, but it was, to say the least, a difficult task.

Every month the situation is getting better with business. People adapted to the terrible conditions because there was no other choice. We all understand that we need to work to maintain the country’s economy, providing a reliable rear for our defenders.

In autumn, the situation worsened due to the massive shelling of the energy infrastructure, but this did not break the business, and now, if you walk through the​​ centre of any city, there is a generator on the streets near every shop. Ukrainians cannot be broken by this.

In the office, we have a power generator, and a supply of water and food, so that we can work without interruption.

How has the war changed you?
The war has changed all of us. Now, each of us has no illusions about the Russian Federation and Belarus. We consider these countries terrorists, who justify their aggression with made-up reasons. So we learned not to trust anything that comes from the Russian side.

At first, we thought we could urge and motivate Russian citizens to oppose their government, but all we see now is that a sizable amount of people believe the propaganda lies and support the invasion.

What charity organisation do you think the reader of this interview should support?
https://savelife.in.ua/en/
https://prytulafoundation.org/en/

Any information about your war/work experience you want to share.
Glory to Ukraine!

 Igor Tkachev

Interview with Igor Tkachev, Head of optimization at leads-up.com.ua

What happened when you woke up on the 24th of February?
Rockets flew and exploded above our heads, we started a new phase of our life where it is impossible to plan anything even a few months in advance, but we still need to write and work.

What is it like doing SEO and working post 24th of February for you?
In this sense, nothing has changed. No more tracked events in Yandex. Started working for other geo.

How has the war changed you?
I began to appreciate the current day and time more, and I almost do not plan for the future.

What charity organisation do you think the reader of this interview should support?
MTÜ SAB UA

Any information about your war/work experience you want to share.
There was no work for the first months, I gave all existing clients a discount on work of 30-60% of the pre-war amount, and they all resumed work within a year.

 Vlad Polyanskiy

Interview with Vlad Polyanskiy, Head of SEO at digitalcossacks.com/

What happened when you woke up on the 24th of February?
Shock, disbelief, scrolled my twitter feed for about an hour before I realised we were at war.

What is it like doing SEO and working post 24th of February for you?
It was hectic in the beginning when nobody knew what was going on and what’s going to happen, but after about 40 days of chaos I managed to get my team up to speed and just start working properly again. I was lucky that all of my team members lived in other countries, so it didn’t affect our projects, but it did very much affect me and my management skills.

Later, when they started bombing our infrastructure, it got a bit trickier, but we managed that too.

How has the war changed you?
I think Russia must fall apart. There is no place for such a country. I’m also better at time management and working in shorter periods of time.

What charity organisation do you think the reader of this interview should support?
You can support ours, we buy cars for medical personnel and send them to places where they’re needed. https://cartodonate.com/

Any information about your war/work experience you want to share.
Keep supporting Ukraine!

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