I'm a Ukrainian CEO whose employees can't work due to stress, volunteering for the army, or staying in shelters. Here's how our company is supporting them.

• Aleksandr Volodarsky is the CEO of Lemon.io, which matches freelance developers with startups.
• He gave workers two months' salary upfront and will hold their jobs if they volunteer for the army.
• This is his story, as told to reporter Jenna Gyimesi.

The as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Aleksandr Volodarsky, 35, a Ukrainian CEO currently in Israel. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My employees and I have gotten used to the stress of war. The war really started about eight years ago, when Russia annexed Crimea, and we have been aware of the risk of an invasion for some time.

Still, people are even more depressed than I anticipated.

I'm the CEO of Lemon.io, a freelance platform where you can hire developers. When our company was founded in 2015, we made a decision to never do any business with Russians — we have no Russian developers and we have no Russian clients.

It was a firm stance I took against the annexing of regions and the killing of people in my country. Eighty percent of our developers are from Ukraine, and about 20% are from other countries in Europe, such as Germany and the Netherlands.

It's my job as CEO to make my employees' lives just a little bit easier right now.

In mid-February, my cofounders and I decided on a few things that we thought would offer some relief during this incredibly difficult time:

• We paid two months' salary in advance to our 44 employees.
• Developers will get payouts two times more often.
• If any employee decides to volunteer for the army, we will continue to pay them a full salary. We will also hold their jobs for them until they're back.
• Those in regions under attack can keep their jobs and pay even if they cannot work.
• We will try to help relocate anyone who feels unsafe.
• We will try to generate enough cash in case banks fail.

We needed to this because they're my team and they rely on this job.

It was very important that we give them these things to offer some certainty during a time of massive uncertainty.

We've given them the ability to have cash — which has been a challenge for people because of the earlier rush to empty ATMs. And we told them they were going to have jobs and keep their salaries. These are two worries off their minds.

I have an employee who is sitting in a shelter right now. She doesn't know if she's going to find necessities like food. But at least she knows there are people who will support her when she needs us.

I didn't expect people to be as depressed as they are.

Most of our employees can't work right now, mostly because they're too stressed or panicked to be productive. Many are in shelters or have volunteered for the army. And I feel like there is very little I can do to help them feel better. People are very, very down and unmotivated, and I didn't expect it to be this bad.

We talk almost every day. I spend about 60% of my time checking in with people to see if everyone is safe and OK. Slack has been great for keeping in touch.

Our job right now is to keep the company alive with the capacity we have.

We halted most of the production of our company for now, meaning we don't work on any new features. We had to change our operations to reflect our new, smaller capacity. But we have no shortage of business. Many people and companies are going out of their way to hire Ukrainian developers to show support.

We also have developers in Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey who are helping to keep our business open. It's harder to give new projects to Ukrainian developers because their situations are uncertain, but I'm confident that we will keep functioning.

Still, I'm worried about being able to guarantee salaries long term. No one knows when this will end. And if we have to hire people outside Ukraine to keep the company working and the salaries coming, then we will do that. We have a plan, but it's hard to plan for anything these days.

My only regret is not offering these securities earlier.

The air-raid sirens started at 5 one morning, but I didn't hear it. I woke up a few hours later and got my kids ready for school. We received a message from the school saying it hoped we were all safe. I sat there thinking, "What's happening?"

Within two hours, the roads were packed with heavy traffic. I know of people who spent 15 to 20 hours on the road for drives that usually take six hours. Everyone was leaving Ukraine, and it was hard to get gas. We didn't leave because I was afraid of getting stuck with my kids in the car and without gas.

For a long time, I was in denial about the possibility of full-scale war. But that was the first day I saw how panicked and fearful everyone was around me. My employees were so stressed and panicked, and I realized my team was not OK.

Once I realized that, I gave them the salary and guarantee right away.

My cofounder was really pushing for us to decide a plan quickly in early February, before the air raids. But I didn't think Russia would invade like this, and I'm really, really sorry that we didn't do something before this.

My cofounder also suggested two months of pay, and we all agreed. Other CEOs are doing similar things, but this is a plan we came up with on our own because we thought it was doable and helpful.

I'm very lucky to have made it out of Ukraine.

I'm safe in Israel now with my family, and many of my employees were able to leave the country as well.

I feel overwhelmed by the support we have received. The extent that people have been willing to help is amazing and surprising. We had a client take in one of our salespeople who was on vacation in Germany and couldn't go home.

We have clients in Japan offering spare bedrooms. We get hundreds of people emailing us to offer their support. It's a tremendous feeling knowing that people care about protecting us.

I know why I helped my employees — I know and care for them deeply. But people are really going above and beyond for people who they've encountered briefly or are borderline strangers. It truly amazes me, and I am very thankful.

If you're a Ukrainian CEO who would like to talk about how the war has affected your business, contact Jenna Gyimesi at jgyimesi@insider.com.