Here is Aleksandr reading his own story aloud.
Dedicated to the third sorrowful anniversary of the war. With gratitude to our European partners.
A Company Built in the Heart of Kharkiv
Before the war, our company was thriving in the center of Kharkiv — a large, developed, and beautiful million-strong city. We lived and worked just 45 kilometers away from what turned out to be a massive ticking time bomb.
We had just completed a beautiful new office renovation — a space filled with energy, collaboration, and ambition. At the time, DreamDev had two divisions: one handling large-scale projects with Laravel and Vue.js, and the other — a WordPress agency primarily working with Elementor and WPBakery.
We believed our future lay in big, ambitious U.S. projects. We chased tight deadlines, endured weekend calls, and thrived under pressure. It was exhausting and stressful, but we had no idea that the real challenge was yet to come.
February 24, 2022 – The Day Our World Collapsed
No one believed war was possible. Even as rumors spread, we convinced ourselves:
“This can’t happen. Not here. Not in the 21st century”
Then, at 4 AM on February 24, our world turned upside down. Our work chats flooded with messages: “The war has started.” Explosions shook the city. The sky turned red with fire. Deafening sounds filled the air. We later learned they were Grad rockets, but at that moment, all we felt was shock, fear, and disbelief.
Our brand-new office stood empty. The streets outside looked like a scene from a dystopian movie — people running, children crying, cars were abandoned. As we hurried to gather what we could, Russian tanks were already at the city’s outskirts.
And just like that, a new chapter of DreamDev’s story had begun.
Survival Mode: When There’s No Plan, Just Action
We left Kharkiv, seeking shelter in an old house on the city’s outskirts — a place built before World War I. A war from another time, yet history was repeating itself. Our memories from those first days are scattered, and fragmented — banks stopped working, teammates went silent, chaos spread. We had no answers. But we had work. So, five days into the war, we sent out a message to our partners: “Please don’t worry. We are still working.”
Losing Everything – and Gaining Something Even Greater
Then came the real test. Most of our U.S. partners left. A major Norwegian project was scared to death of the news and canceled the team of 3 developers and a PM working for them. We lost our biggest contracts. But something we never expected happened:
Every single one of our European partners stayed. Not only that — they gave us even more projects.
They believed in us. They supported us. And because of them, we survived. Laravel projects disappeared. We lost key developers. But WordPress kept us afloat. It fed us. It fed our families in the hardest moments.
So we focused on what we did best: custom, complex WordPress development.
The team kept evolving. We became our own sales department, reaching out from a century-old house while watching missiles hit the heart of Kharkiv and fighter jets fall from the sky.
“I will never forget the sound of a plane flying over my head. The mushroom cloud rising above the Officers’ House. The windows in my home were blown out by the blast wave.”
At that time, only four of us remained in Kharkiv — two founders, our HR manager, and a project manager. Everyone else had left.
Back to the Office – And Into the Fire
After six months of working from home, we made the decision: Return to the office. Every commute felt like it could be the last. But we had no choice — we had to keep moving forward.
By the end of 2022, we fully committed to what we did best: custom WordPress development and complex UX/UI design
It was hard. It was frustrating. But it was stimulating. At this point, it felt like a survival game.
Blackouts, Bombs, and Business as Usual
As Russian missiles targeted Ukraine’s power grid, the country was plunged into darkness. The only sound? Generators humming in the streets. We spent hours hunting for an internet connection, sitting in gas stations, just to tell our partners:
“We are alive. Your project will be delivered on time.”
With no electricity, no news, and no phone signal, we kept working. Our European partners kept us afloat.
The Team That Never Stopped
By 2023, almost our entire pre-war team was gone. New faces joined, but the spirit remained the same: Adapt. Survive. Deliver.
We worked without electricity, without water, without heating.
Some in Kharkiv, some in Poltava, some in Dnipro. But we never stopped building. Reflecting on the past, it’s hard to believe that we were able to endure and remain steadfast.
2024: WordPress Is Changing. So Are We.
This year, WordPress is evolving — the rise of low-code and no-code solutions is shifting the landscape. The war’s impact on the European economy’s growth and projects is slowing down. But our partners — the ones who stood by us — were still here.
2025: The War Continues, But So Do We
The war isn’t over. And yet, the partners and teammates who believed in us never left. This is more than just WordPress development. This is resilience. This is survival. This is the future we are building together.
Editor’s Note: The normal fee for the banner for this essay will instead be donated to a charity that supports Ukraine.
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