When Russian troops invaded Ukraine, we learned a lot about a nation that many of us had incorrectly tied to Russia.
Despite Russia’s reputed military superiority, it became clear that Ukraine would fiercely defend its territory against an invasion unleashed by a strongman trying to turn back the clock to the dark days of the Soviet empire.
Closer to home, Ukrainian Americans have long been contributors to our region’s culture and economy. If you work or live in northern Delaware, you may have a friend or co-worker who is proud to talk about their Ukrainian roots.
The Delaware Valley has more than 58,000 people of Ukrainian descent, including more than 5,000 in Delaware.
Back in Ukraine, innovation thrives, even in wartime. Captured Russian armored vehicles and other equipment are repaired and sent back into battle. One unconfirmed report indicates that the number of captured Russian tanks equals the number of Ukrainian tanks destroyed by Russian forces.
Ukrainian innovation has also made its way to the tech market.
Two key tools used by Delaware Business Now are Grammarly and Spark. Both emphasized their roots in Ukraine as the Russians rolled into that nation.
Grammarly has improved the quality of the DBN site during the past couple of years.
The cloud-based service does a good job of detecting lazy writing and improper usage. It even flagged a quote from a Delaware executive that used “The Ukraine,” a term dating back to the days of Soviet occupation. Also noted was an old spelling for Kyiv, another Soviet legacy.
Grammarly has its critics who claim it can lead to stilted writing, awkward transitions, and other issues. Still, Grammarly has flagged many potentially embarrassing errors at this website and is well worth the cost.
Spark is a (mainly) free web-based program that does a good job of managing the large volume of emails we receive. Spark features a calendar and a built-in send feature for Emails that allows scheduling at a time that does not lead to the recipient hearing their phone dinging late at night.
Spark and Grammarly’s parent company are now using the now-familiar national colors on their sites and have stopped doing business with Russia. The sites also offer links for those wishing to donate to civilian relief efforts and the nation’s military. – Doug Rainey, chief content officer.
