The Kyiv Independent’s Kollen Post sits down with Oleksandr Yakovenko, founder of TAF Industries, to discuss how his company went from wartime volunteer logistics to becoming one of Ukraine’s largest drone manufacturers. Yakovenko explains how TAF began by helping the military with transport and imports in the first months of Russia’s full-scale invasion, how failed early efforts evolved into industrial-scale FPV drone production, and how Ukraine’s wartime procurement system helped rapidly expand the country’s mil-tech sector. He also discusses the challenges of scaling production across multiple locations under Russian attack, adapting drones to different front-line needs, and why he believes Ukraine’s wartime manufacturing experience can become a major export after the war.
0:00 Intro 00:37 From logistics to war 03:00 First steps helping the army 04:11 Discovering drones in combat 05:37 First factory destroyed 06:54 Rebuilding and scaling production 08:39 State contracts and rapid growth 09:46 Ukraine’s drone procurement system 14:47 Production challenges and customization 17:50 Running factories under attack 20:09 Taking Ukrainian mil-tech global
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