How one Ukrainian startup is adapting its app during a time of war

Last Thursday, the sound of bombs woke Dima Shvets. Russian troops began shelling key targets in his country at around 5AM local time, escalating a military assault that began eight years ago. Shvets reached out to friends, family, and colleagues to find out what was happening after the air raid sirens rang out.

Shvets told The Verge that the first two days were tough and that he and his friends were forced to adapt to the new reality. On the one hand, life had to continue, even though everything had changed, and on the other, there was no other choice.

Shvets' company was called Reface, a startup based in Ukraine that makes a popular face-swapping app. Shvets was the CEO and he watched over the firm's staff, many of whom were already working remotely, as they headed to bomb shelters and basements.

Ksenia Maslova, a member of the company's comms team, says she found her way to her local subway station in central Kyiv on Friday and was there until Monday with around 50 others.

Photo by Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images

As the days went by, staff began to move further away, keeping an eye on reports of Russian troop movements. The war forced us to split up, and many headed for the border and friends and family in the West.

A few members of Reface's team members quickly volunteered to join the Territorial Defense Forces, a military branch of civilians that has been carrying out auxiliary tasks for the army. Shvets began to think about what his company could do to help the war effort as the Reface team shared news of these departures.

He says that they told their people to not work now.

Reface has over 200 employees and is a well-known startup in Ukraine. Despite threats of war and the Pandemic, Ukraine's tech exports grew by 20 percent in 2020 and Reface has won awards and topped app download charts around the world since its release.

The app uses machine learning to swap users' faces into Gifs and videos of movies and meme for entertainment on social media. The Reface team hasscripted its app into the war in Ukraine.

Shvets says that the first step was to leverage the app's popularity in Russia. He and his colleagues created a video that showed the invasion as it had happened, using the same clips and images that were circulating on social media. In some ways, it felt like work, but it was a routine conducted under extraordinary conditions.

After the video and accompanying text were prepared, Reface sent out millions of push notifications to their users in Russia and around the world, calling on them to join protests and stand with Ukraine.

Image: Reface

The main motivation was to reach Russian viewers by circumventing traditional channels of communication. The state of Russia has gone to great lengths to prevent the public from learning about the war. We are continuing to send them. The only way to change the situation is to protest, and that's what we encouraged people to do.

It is not possible to know the impact of such work, but it is certainly not trivial. Russia's military strategy was to strike fast and hold territory before domestic politics could disrupt an unpopular invasion or Western powers could help, according to analysts. First, by offering stiff opposition to Russian troops on the ground, and second, by flooding social media with meme, images, and videos that emphasize the brutality of the invasion and the bravery and humor of ordinary Ukrainians.

Image: The Verge

Push notifications were just the beginning for Reface, and the company has since given its app a patriotic makeover. The app's icon now shows the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag, while a banner on the welcome screen tells users to donate to the war effort. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, has become a key figure in the country's media war, sharing defiant videos to counter Russian misinformation. In Reface's app, anyone can place their face over Zelenskyy's as he walks with soldiers and addresses the nation.

Before, the main heroes on the app were Jack Sparrow, Hulk, and Iron Man. Today's heroes are our people, our military forces, and our president Zelenskyy.

Shvets had never thought his world would look like this. He says he only wanted to make fun tools for creators.

Reface and its team have adapted their skills to what they say is a threat to their country and freedom. Other members of the tech industry have made similar efforts, volunteering for the so-called cyber resistance, as well as on social media. Shvets is adamant that Reface will continue regardless of what happens with the invasion. As well as sending push notifications to Russians, he has been busy securing server outside of Ukraine to keep the app running.

Reface's team members say that adapting the app has given them a sense of purpose.

During times of war, everyone needs to find their niche.

She pauses for a second and gives a sigh when she is asked how she feels about Reface. And useful. We have a piece of the battleground.