en.Wedoany.com Reported - Ukraine is planning to build local AI computing power in partnership with operator Kyivstar to strengthen key digital infrastructure during the ongoing war with Russia.

Operator Kyivstar signed a memorandum of understanding with Ukraine's Ministry of Economy at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk, Poland. Kyivstar's parent company Veon will provide financial support for the initial phase, which CEO Oleksandr Komarov said may require 3MW to 5MW of computing capacity and cost tens of millions of dollars.

Komarov stated that the military is currently the largest user of AI in Ukraine, emphasizing that military computing cannot be run abroad as it concerns national security. Although AI computing demand remains relatively limited, local computing power will also enable Kyivstar to serve small and medium-sized enterprises that cannot access global cloud providers.

At the same event, Patrycja Sokalska-Pomacho, Director of Business Development for Central and Eastern Europe at Nvidia, noted that Ukraine currently lacks computing infrastructure to retain the value of its operational, cultural, and linguistic data domestically. Jeff Bullwinkel, Vice President for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Microsoft, added that after the invasion, Ukrainian data was transferred to data centers across Europe to protect it from Russian attacks.

The agreement comes as Ukraine seeks to rebuild its digital sovereignty after widespread destruction caused by Russia's military invasion. The invasion forced multiple data and digital services to move to international infrastructure.

In April this year, Veon and Kyivstar stated they had invested $1.3 billion in Ukraine since 2023, exceeding the previous commitment target of $1 billion. These funds were used for mobile and fiber network expansion, Starlink direct-to-device (D2D) satellite connectivity, acquisitions, and backup power systems to address disruptions.

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