Holding a flashlight, he walked through the dusty control room to rescue the remains of the system while each wall of the substation collapsed, shouting continuously to alert the workers who survived the explosion.
According to Reuters, Russia has launched a campaign of attacks on Ukraine's power grid since last month, destroying at least eight power plants and dozens of transformer stations.
Kyiv said Russia used more than 150 missiles and 240 remotely piloted aircraft in just one week from March 22 to attack and disrupt electricity and heating networks.
These attacks have also targeted solar and hydroelectric power plants, forcing Kyiv to import energy and fueling fears about the sustainability of a power grid that was heavily damaged by Russian air strikes during the first winter of the war.
Russia has insisted that the power grid is a legitimate military target and has described the attacks last month as “retaliatory airstrikes” in response to Ukraine’s attacks on Russian territory near the border.
Last week, the chairman of the national power company Ukrenergo, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, told Reuters that the possibility of a complete collapse of the grid, causing power and water outages to towns and cities, was currently negligible.
Avoiding a grid collapse largely depends on the ability to quickly repair power plants, where workers in protective suits and helmets work in long corridors littered with pieces of metal and concrete after the airstrikes.
“To produce enough electricity for the winter, we have to repair the structure and the roof, otherwise the equipment will freeze,” said Andriy, a Ukrainian whose family has worked at the power plant for generations.
The repair race
The plant asked Reuters not to disclose the location or names of the workers for security reasons. Operators said a reactor can serve 10 to 15 small towns, but the March 22 attack disrupted power generation for the first time there, and recent attacks have damaged much of the equipment.
The plant’s private operator, DTEK, said its stations provide about a quarter of Ukraine’s electricity needs, and that the plants lost 80% of their output after the attacks. The company said it expected to restore at least 50% of the damage in the next four months, with repairs costing about $230 million.
Three nuclear power plants provided the bulk of Ukraine's electricity needs even after Russian soldiers captured and took control of Europe's largest nuclear power plant, the Zaporizhzhia, with six reactors, early in the war.
However, energy officials say damage to Ukraine's thermal and hydroelectric facilities will likely keep electricity demand satisfied.
And it's also hard to find replacement parts.
Andriy said the power plant where he works has been in operation since the early 20th century: “This equipment is no longer produced by any factory in Ukraine, especially since most of it was produced in the Soviet Union. We are doing everything and even beyond our capabilities to find replacement parts.”
Protecting power plants and other critical infrastructure in a country the size of France while also defending the front line is no small challenge.
“The most important thing for us and also for non-essential workers who cannot leave their workplace regardless of whether there are missile attacks or not is to have confidence that this situation will not repeat itself,” said Andriy.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and other senior Kyiv officials are calling on allies and partners to help provide additional air defense systems almost every day.
A DTEK spokesperson, who asked to remain anonymous, said Russian precision attacks on power generation facilities this year have caused damage that takes longer to repair than attacks on the electricity transmission system last year.
Zelensky said Ukraine could cope using its military reserves for now, but had begun making tough choices about who to protect. He renewed his call for 25 Patriot air defense systems on Saturday after months of Republicans refusing to pass a major military aid package in the US Senate.
At another power plant, repairs were carried out almost continuously despite the potential dangers. Another worker, Oleh, said the refusal of Ukrainian forces to give up motivated him and others to continue working.
“The boys on the front lines are protecting our country, and we are also fighting as hard as we can here.”
Nguyen Quang Minh (according to Reuters)
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