Another big change is afoot at the top of Ukraine’s efforts to organise its defence tech ecosystem. Andrii Hrytseniuk is stepping down as CEO of Brave1, the lauded defence cluster set up by the Ukraine government to usher in more cutting edge tech into the fight against Russia and to bring more visibility to the defence tech being built in the country..
Brave1 announced the news in a LinkedIn statement. It did not give a reason for Hrytseniuk’s departure.
The change comes amid other significant leadership shifts at the top of the government’s defence tech efforts.
Earlier in October, Artem Moroz resigned as Brave1’s longtime head of investments. That came after Mykhailo Fedorov, stepped away from the top-dog role of Defence Minister after just half a year in that role.
Fedorov had been a very vocal supporter of Brave1’s growth and in fact was the country’s Minister of Digital Transformation at the time that the ministry, in partnership with other government offices such as the ministries of defence and education, first founded Brave1. Fedorov was a popular leader, and his ouster spurred a wave of protests and other resignations.
It is not clear if the executive changes at Brave1 are also linked to Fedorov’s departure. Federov himself is in hiring mode for a new venture that he is calling Army of Robots, aimed at rolling up some of the defence tech efforts being built in Ukraine.
We have contacted Hrytseniuk for comment and will update this post as we learn more. Moroz did not respond to our questions about Fedorov but simply said it was time for a change.
“No conspiracy, just decided to start a new chapter. It’s been almost 3 years here,” he emailed in response to a question from Resilience Media. “Still committed to the same mission: win the war with the help of technology.”
The changes at Brave1 come as the country faces off against wider challenges. Ukraine is entering into a fourth winter of war after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, and it is doing so amid tensions with one of its key partners, the United States, which has cut energy deals with Russia – a move that gives the US fuel, and Russia more money to fuel its invasion.
An immediate successor was not named for Hrytseniuk. Brave1 said Viktor Rudenko will continue to head the Innovation Development Fund, while COO Iryna Zabolotna will focus on developing the cluster during the transition period.
Hrytseniuk joined Brave1 in May 2025. The organisation was already two years old, and Hrytseniuk was tasked with leading it through a period of scaling. This included introducing more procurement, manufacturing and funding pipelines as well as business development for defence tech built in Ukraine.
During his tenure, Moroz helped establish Brave1’s investment outreach infrastructure, including its Defense Tech Valley summit and an investor network comprising more than 400 funds, family offices, and private investors, according to Forbes Ukraine.
“We’re grateful to Andrii for his coordinated work with the government and the military, for the bridge he built between science and business, and for the courage to take on the hardest challenges,” Brave1’s statement said.
In September, Brave1 reported that it had provided more than 1,000 grants to Ukrainian defense technology developers since its establishment in 2023, while funding defense technology development to the tune of UAH 6.2 billion.
