Inside Ukraine’s quest to keep the lights on as winter descends
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. For months, workers battled to keep the decades-old power station in the front-line city of Kurakhove functioning as advancing Russian forces hammered it with artillery. In the spring, the mission changed.
Their new Herculean task: to dismantle the entire facility—with increasing urgency. Its generators, transformers and other vital parts were desperately needed to repair other Ukrainian power stations ravaged by Russian attacks. “It was of course very difficult," said the power station’s boss, Anatoliy Borichevskiy, who delivered the news in the spring to the site’s 1,000 workers, many of whom grew up in the industrial town dominated by the plant.
“We had no choice." Alongside battlefield setbacks, Ukraine faces another major test as the war enters its third winter: keeping the lights on. In the spring, Russia launched a fresh onslaught against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, targeting several power plants in a tactical shift aimed at eroding the country’s ability to sustain the war effort. Wave after wave of missiles and drones knocked out about half of Ukraine’s power-generation capacity, triggering blackouts and disrupting businesses that rely on steady electricity.
Winter will put even greater strain on the energy system as colder temperatures drive up demand for electricity. In the worst case, lengthy power outages could make Ukraine’s cities unlivable in the months to come, spurring a new exodus from the country. The looming energy crunch has thrust companies such as DTEK to the center of a mission crucial to the country’s war effort.
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