KYIV, UKRAINE — Valera Kondratenko, 32, would feel right at home working on Wall Street and living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He has an advanced degree in finance, works as the investment director for a private equity fund, speaks perfect English and tweets about Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
In fact, Kondratenko lives in Kyiv.
He’s doing everything he can as a civilian to support Ukraine’s war effort — he helped found a grassroots group that imports vehicles for the armed forces — and he’s hopeful about the outcome of the fighting. But he’s also unsentimental.
