KYIV, Ukraine – At a Ukrainian power plant repeatedly hit by Russian airstrikes, the head of the equipment department, Oleh, has a one-word answer when asked what Ukraine’s struggling energy industry needs most: “Patriot.”
Ukrainian energy workers are struggling to repair the damage caused by intensifying airstrikes aimed at pulverizing Ukraine’s energy grid, damaging the economy and undermining public morale. People fear losing the race to prepare for winter unless allies create air defense systems like the U.S.-made Patriots to stop Russian attacks from inflicting more destruction on already damaged plants.
“Rockets hit quickly. The repair takes a long time,” Oleh said in limited but blunt English.
The US sent Ukraine some Patriot missile systems and said last week it would give more, following appeals from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Associated Press on Thursday visited a factory owned by DTEK, the country’s largest private energy supplier, days after a cruise missile attack left parts of it a mess of shattered glass, shattered bricks and twisted metal. The coal plant is one of four DTEK plants hit on the same day last week.
The AP was granted access on the condition that the location of the facility, technical details of the damage and the full names of workers not be published for security reasons.
During the visit, State Emergency Service workers, wearing helmets and harnesses, climbed onto the twisted roof of a vast building, surveying the damage and occasionally dislodging chunks of debris with a thunderous crash.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told Foreign Policy magazine that half of the country’s energy system was damaged by Russian attacks.
DTEK says it has lost 80% of its electricity generating capacity in nearly 180 airstrikes since the start of the full-scale invasion of Russia in 2022. It is estimated that repairing all damaged plants would take between six months and two years – even if there were, there are no more strikes.
Shift supervisor Ruslan was on duty in the operations room when the air alarm sounded. He sent his crew to shelter in the basement, but remained at his post when the explosion occurred just meters away.
He ran into darkness, dust and fire. He said he wasn’t scared because “I knew what I needed to do” – make sure his team was okay and then try to help put out the flames.
Russia hit Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with devastating effects during the “blackout winter” of 2022-23. In March, it launched a new wave of attacks, one of which completely destroyed the Trypilska power station near Kiev, one of the largest in the country.
Russian President Vladimir Putin framed the attacks as retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries.
Oleh said the Russians are “learning all the time” and adapting their tactics. Initially they targeted transformers that distribute energy; now they target the energy-generating equipment itself, with increasing precision. The Russians are also sending an increasing number of missiles and exploding drones to deplete Ukraine’s air defenses, and repeatedly hitting the same targets.
DTEK executive director Dmytro Sakharuk said in March that of the 10 units the company repaired after previous attacks, two-thirds were hit again.
More Russian missiles have been launched in recent months as Ukraine awaited new supplies from allies, including a $61 billion package from the US that was delayed for months due to disputes in Congress. It was finally approved in April, but it could be weeks or months before all the new guns and ammunition arrive.
Ukraine’s energy companies have practically exhausted their finances, equipment and spare parts to repair the damage Russia has already caused. The country’s power plants urgently need specialized equipment that Ukraine can no longer manufacture at a sufficient speed and scale.
Some 51 DTEK employees have been injured in attacks since 2022 and three have been killed. Employees say they continue working despite the danger because they know how crucial their work is.
Machine operator Dmytro, who was on duty during the recent attack and took shelter in the basement, said that when he came out, “my soul was bleeding when I saw the scale of the destruction.”
He thought of the many people who put their heart and soul into building the gigantic plant.
“That was destroyed in a few seconds, in an instant,” he said.
Dmytro, who worked at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine before it was taken over by Russia, said he would continue to work every day “as long as I am able”.
“It is our duty to the country,” he said
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