Ukraine Plans Domestic AI Computing Capacity to Strengthen National Security
Ukraine plans to build domestic computing capacity for artificial intelligence in partnership with Kyivstar, as the country seeks to strengthen critical infrastructure during the ongoing war.
The company announced on Friday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Economy Ministry during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdansk. Meanwhile, parent company VEON will provide financial backing for the project’s first phase.
Kyivstar Chief Executive Officer Oleksandr Komarov said the initial stage could require between three and five megawatts of computing capacity and investment worth tens of millions of dollars.
“The biggest consumer of Ukrainian AI right now is the military,” Komarov told Reuters. “You cannot run military computing somewhere outside. It is a matter of national security.”
Domestic Infrastructure Gains Strategic Importance
The initiative reflects a broader European effort to reduce dependence on foreign technology infrastructure. Moreover, the issue has become increasingly urgent for Ukraine after Russia’s invasion forced the country to rely heavily on Western technology providers.
As a result, Ukraine has shifted much of its digital infrastructure beyond its borders to protect essential services. However, the government now aims to develop more domestic computing resources for strategically important workloads.
Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa Vice President Jeff Bullwinkel said during the conference that Ukrainian data had been moved to data centres across Europe following the invasion. The relocation helped protect critical information from Russian strikes and highlighted how the conflict has reshaped the country’s digital infrastructure.
AI Demand Remains Limited but Critical
Komarov said Ukraine’s current demand for artificial intelligence computing remains relatively modest. Nevertheless, he described it as strategically significant because of its importance to national security and critical operations.
He also said Kyivstar could provide artificial intelligence services to local businesses that may be too small to secure direct support from major global cloud providers. Consequently, domestic computing infrastructure could improve access to advanced AI capabilities for smaller organisations across the country.
Local Processing Supports Data Sovereignty
During the same conference, Nvidia’s Central and Eastern Europe business development director, Patrycja Sokalska-Pomacho, said Ukraine currently lacks sufficient computing infrastructure to retain the value of its operational, cultural and language data within the country.
Reuters reported in December that Ukraine and Kyivstar were developing an artificial intelligence model using Alphabet-owned Google’s open-source Gemma model. The project forms part of a wider effort to support both military and civilian operations as demand for secure local data processing continues to grow.
With inputs from Reuters