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Марія БровінськаІсторії
12 January 2026, 09:00
2026-01-12
"Honor code": How an iOS developer from Sumy became a fighter of the SSO and created his own clothing brand during the war
The story of Bohdan Holovach, a military man and former iOS developer, is not about «an IT guy who joined the army.» It’s about a person who is constantly looking for a form in which he can be himself: in code, in war, and in his own product. He has been defending Ukraine for four years, and despite this, he dreams of living and developing among conscious Ukrainians and building a career in IT, which he left behind because of the war.
Now, while in the military, Bohdan has managed to create and develop his own brand of quality clothing for conscious Ukrainians. He is also very concerned about the fate of veterans returning from war.
Below is the story of a man who was not afraid to turn his life 18 degrees at least twice.
The story of Bohdan Holovach, a military man and former iOS developer, is not about «an IT guy who joined the army.» It’s about a person who is constantly looking for a form in which he can be himself: in code, in war, and in his own product. He has been defending Ukraine for four years, and despite this, he dreams of living and developing among conscious Ukrainians and building a career in IT, which he left behind because of the war.
Now, while in the military, Bohdan has managed to create and develop his own brand of quality clothing for conscious Ukrainians. He is also very concerned about the fate of veterans returning from war.
Below is the story of a man who was not afraid to turn his life 18 degrees at least twice.
From boxing to code
Bohdan was born and raised in Sumy. His first major discipline in life was not programming, but sports. He was engaged in boxing for 18 years, became a master of sports and champion of Ukraine under the age of 22. This formed the habit of working through pain, fatigue and doubt — a trait that would later be very useful both in IT and in war.
At the same time, he received two higher educations — at Sumy National Agrarian University and Sumy State University. But he had no real sense of «his place.»
For a while, Bohdan worked as a driver in EU countries. He traveled almost all over Europe, and later stopped in Berlin. There, during long working days, a clear thought first appeared: he wanted to do something more difficult than just physical work.
«Every day after my shift, I studied English and thought about programming. I didn’t know how to get there, but I knew what I wanted,» he says.
The decisive moment came after a call from a friend from the USA. He offered to help financially if Bohdan returned to Ukraine and enrolled in the Ucode programming school. After working for a month, Bohdan was already packing his things to return home.
Bet on iOS
Ucode opened up the world of IT for him — but it wasn’t immediately clear where to go. An attempt to go full-stack didn’t work out — according to Bohdan, there was too much going on and little sense of control.
Everything changed when a friend of mine, who worked as an iOS developer, started helping Bohdan with Swift and mobile apps, and something clicked.
«I liked that you could create a product that people could actually hold in their hands. It’s not an abstract backend — it’s buttons, a screen, interaction.»
After studying, he looked for a job in Kyiv, but quickly realized that the level of the capital was not enough. He returned to Sumy, where he accidentally saw a vacancy for an iOS developer. He passed the interview and got a job with a minimum salary but maximum responsibility.
His first big project, the IT guy recalls, was a real hell: an old task manager that hadn’t been supported for years, 5,500 errors when running the code.
«I spent three weeks just fixing bugs until it started working. When it finally worked, the manager gave me a standing ovation. That was the first time I felt I could do it,» recalls Bohdan.
February 24, Sumy
The war caught Bogdaan at home. «It was an ordinary day for me. I immediately said I wouldn’t leave the city. My thoughts were only about not giving the city to the enemy, I just didn’t know where to run and what to do, and what benefit I could bring to my city,» the guy says.
Sumy, he recalls, was practically semi-encircled in the first days. Russian troops entered the city, it was chaotic and scary. He sent his family to Poland, but he stayed behind.
«The hardest thing was watching the men leave. It seemed to me that everyone was running away without even trying to fight,» says Bohdan.
He went to military registration and enlistment offices — they didn’t take him anywhere, they just put him on the lists. Then the guy went to the checkpoint near his house, on the highway to Kyiv. That’s where he came in handy.
Thus began the path that later led the AIT man to the Resistance Movement, and then to the Special Operations Forces.
From scout to drone operator
During his service, Bohdan was an infantryman, a scout, a drone pilot, and an instructor. He cannot reveal part of his current position, but says simply: «Now I am in my place.»
Technical thinking with IT turned out to be critically useful. The ability to quickly understand new things, look for solutions, and fix equipment literally saved missions.
«I was working on macOS, and everyone around me was working on Windows. In the field, when something breaks, it often means, ‘Bogdan, look,’ and I’ll fix it.»
How HONOR CODE was born
Currently, Bohdan is the owner and brainchild of the clothing brand Honor COde. The idea for the brand, according to him, did not appear in the office or in a marketing brainstorm. At the beginning of the invasion, Bohdan and his colleagues did not have uniforms. Everyone wore whatever they could find — green jackets, black hoodies, old civilian clothes. It was necessary to somehow distinguish «their own.»
Once in Druzhkivka, Bohdan saw a mural with the inscription: «Russia will fall when the Ukrainian sun rises.»
And I thought: what if we made clothes that would only be worn by those who share this ideology? That’s how HONOR CODE was born.
The brand name was also not born by chance. «I wanted to put into it everything that I felt at the beginning of the invasion: what I saw in my brothers and friends. All the qualities that I felt in myself. I just typed what I felt and wrote the story,» says the IT worker.
Startup between rotations
Bohdan started with a problem familiar to every soldier: it was impossible to find normal T-shirts: either the fabric was bad, the cut was not good, or the color was wrong.
He began looking for fabrics, factories, and testing patterns. Three manufacturers didn’t fit. They were altered several times. The tags were changed over and over again. «I wanted to create something that I would want to wear myself. High-quality. Durable,» the guy shares.
Starting the business cost about $4,000 — Bogdan spent almost all of his savings on the fancy startup. And then, the guy says, he simply reinvested everything he earned.
«No investors, no business plans — just a product, feedback, and constant iterations. Like in a startup,» says Bogdan.
He admits that he repeatedly thought about abandoning this idea. «My wife helped me, who constantly told me that this was just the beginning, to continue, and my closest friends, who supported me both in word and deed,» he says.
Currently, Bohdan is not considering a return in any timeframe. He explains: «I understand that as an entrepreneur I should know this, but expansion and scaling are the priority right now,» he notes.
Bohdan is convinced that his clothes are not for any specific, narrow category of users.
«This is about all conscious Ukrainians who share the same character traits and outlook on life as I do,» he describes the target audience.
Currently, the project team consists of two people with whom Bohdan works every day, and three more join in a situational manner when the process requires it.
For now, Bohdan sells online and has no plans to open a showroom or offline point of sale of another format. «I don’t plan to do so yet, precisely because I can’t be there. There’s not enough media coverage to open a showroom,» he explains.
Fear after victory
One of the most painful topics for Bohdan is what will happen to veterans after the war. «I’m afraid that no one will need us. And in the IT community too,» the guy says. And he adds:«A person who returned from the war doesn’t need sympathy, but a chance.» The man believes that vacancies for juniors or trainees, help in restoring their eyesight, and at least a salary to live on while learning to walk again will be available to veterans.
After the victory, Bohdan plans to do two things: return to iOS development — with AI in mind — and scale HONOR CODE. «It’s not just about war. It’s about who you are,» he argues.
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