Power plant workers keeping the lights on

The Guardian Weekly visits a Soviet-era coal-fired thermal installation to learn how it has held up to Russian attacks

- Shaun Walker

In the cavernous turbine hall of a coal-fired thermal power plant, deputy chief engineer Oleksandr runs through the extensive damage, pointing out various consequences of numerous Russian strikes over the past two years. Machinery is covered in streaks of grime, the residue of heating insulation that burned and rained down on the equipment. A roof girder, 10 metres long, is impaled in the floor. Oil tanks and machines are strafed with shrapnel marks.

"A power station is a tricky thing, there were always small things going wrong, but we could never have imagined anything like this in our worst nightmares," said Oleksandr, who has worked for 27 years at the plant.

Before the war, even a small leak from the roof would have been seen as an emergency situation, said Oleksandr. Now, rain falls from the open sky, pooling on the floors, as much of the roof has been destroyed in strikes.

Russia has been systematically targeting Ukraine's energy system since the start of the war, leading to regular scheduled blackouts and frequent emergency power cuts. Even in Kyiv, hospitals and schools as well as most businesses now have generators to keep the power going during blackouts. Two massive attacks on energy in November, and another last week, have again brought the issue into focus, raising fears of a dark and cold winter ahead. Every time the Russians attack, the workers at Ukraine's power plants rush to try to repair the damage.