On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since then, Russian occupants have destroyed hundreds of living buildings, hospitals, and schools. They killed thousands of civilians, including 38 children.

These horrible crimes affected everybody in Ukraine. Russian state terrorism forced people to fight for fundamental human rights and needs. Many of us left our hometowns, got used to hiding in bombshells, and constantly worrying about our friends and relatives under artillery attacks. Let alone that many of us couldn’t continue working and were left without any income.

Though the Ukrainian Toptal community experienced pain and destruction brought by Russian military forces, we didn’t receive a clear and concise statement from the company. In the email sent to the part of our community, Toptal didn’t mention the Russian Federation and didn’t condemn its aggression. Furthermore, Toptal moderators deactivated Slack accounts of Ukrainians with active positions, constantly removed comments on the topic, and tolerated shady posts that justified the war started by putin.

It is a massive disappointment to most of us as previously we had only positive experiences with the company. Toptal markets itself as an exclusive network of the top freelance specialists - there should be no place for aggressors and occupants in it. Other crucial to the freelance ecosystem businesses like Upwork and Payoneer have already stopped all business operations in Russia.
With this letter Ukrainian Toptal community asks you to do the following:

- Stop helping the Russian IT sector in any activity.
- Condemn violence and clearly state the aggressor in this conflict.
- Permanently ban from the Toptal community every person that justified this war.
- Stop all your business operations in the Russian Federation.

Slava Ukraini!