160 Ukrainian energy workers have been killed as Russia pummels the power system

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Friends often ask Mykhailo whether the Ukrainian power plant worker hides in a shelter when Russia bombards the energy system.

“If all the turbine operators hid during attacks, there’d be no energy left,” he said, standing inside the machine hall of a thermal power plant. “We have to stay at our posts. Who else would do the job?”

Almost four years into Russia’s invasion, keeping Ukraine’s lights on has become a battle of its own — fought along a moving front line. Engineers repeatedly repair transformers, switchyards, and power lines that Russia strikes again and again while using bomb-laden drones to hunt workers’ trucks near the border. And that work repairing damage from Russian attacks is happening when a major embezzlement and kickbacks scandal at the state-owned nuclear power company has put top officials under scrutiny.

Since the war began at least 160 energy workers have been killed, including a colleague of Mykhailo’s. More than 300 others have been wounded. Yet tens of thousands still head out each day — sometimes fearful, sometimes resigned, often driven by a quiet mission to bring light through the darkness.

https://apnews.com/photo-essay/war-russia-ukraine-energy-strikes-bombs-d24f25f8d42f238097f6ac1a139f6035