The Biden administration is considering lifting the ban on allowing American military contractors in Ukraine. If approved, the changes would likely take effect this year and allow the Pentagon to award contracts to American companies to work in Ukraine for the first time since Russia invaded in 2022.
This will speed up the maintenance and repair of weapons systems used by Ukraine’s military. Therefore, it is likely that several dozen to several hundred American contractors will be operating in Ukraine at the same time. Companies vying for contracts must develop robust risk mitigation plans to reduce threats to their employees.
For the past two years, Biden has insisted that all Americans stay as far away from the front lines in Ukraine as possible. Administration officials began seriously reconsidering those restrictions in the past few months as Russia continued to make gains on the battlefield and US funding for Ukraine stalled in Congress.