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How the Ukraine-Russia war is reshaping the tech sector in Eastern Europe

Startups in Latvia and other nearby countries see the mobilization of Ukraine as a warning and as inspiration. They are now changing consumer products—from scooters to recreational drones—for use on the battlefield.

Like commuters who use scooters in urban environments, farmers and vintners could use the Mosphera to zip around their properties; miners and utility workers could use it for maintenance and security patrols; police and border guards could drive them on forest paths. Origin has built on the team’s experience in consumer drones and its expertise in autonomous flight to begin to build what Kipurs calls “an airborne precision-guided weapon system”—a guided bomb that a soldier can carry in a backpack. One logistics specialist supplying a front line unit, speaking anonymously as he’s not authorized to talk to the media, tells me that this spring, they turned to donated gear from startups in Europe and the US to fill gaps left by delayed US military aid, including untested prototypes of UAVs and communications equipment.

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