Nov 13 (Reuters) - Oleksiy, a technician at a Ukrainian power plant, has lost count of how many times he has had to repair the facility after Russian attacks. But the latest strike was the most devastating, he says, and could leave an entire region without heat and electricity this winter.
Early one morning this month, Russian missiles slammed into the plant — owned by Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK — tearing apart its roof and walls. Turbines and boilers were buried under tons of debris that hundreds of workers must clear by hand.
Reuters visited the ruined plant but DTEK asked not to disclose its location for security reasons.
"Right now, everyone has shovels and wheelbarrows as we try to reach the equipment," said Oleksiy, who asked to be identified only by his given name. "The main thing is to get to it, assess its condition and only then make plans for repairs and restoration."
Russia resumed large-scale attacks on energy infrastructure in mid-autumn, seeking to weaponise Ukraine's harsh winters by leaving millions without heat and electricity, as it has sought to do every year since its full-scale invasion in 2022. Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians.
But this year, Ukraine has struggled to protect its power plants after the US cut deliveries of Patriot interceptors — the only weapon in Kyiv's arsenal capable of stopping Russian ballistic missiles — amid a global shortage.
Ukraine's defences have also been stretched by Russia's deployment of new jet-powered attack drones, which are more difficult to down because of their speed.
Last winter, the coldest of the war, DTEK's five plants came under heavy attack 11 times. But already this November, the first month of the current heating season, Russia has attacked three of DTEK's plants with dozens of missiles and drones, forcing the stations to halt electricity generation.
"They (the Russians) seem obsessed with leaving us without electricity and heating, and they stick to that goal," said Oleksiy. "But we restore what they destroy and keep working."
DTEK workers have restarted its plants from scratch more than 70 times during the war following Russian attacks.
But analysts say this winter could be more difficult because of the more destructive attacks. Many Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, are already experiencing long blackouts.
"It's difficult to say how quickly we can recover," DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko told Reuters. "So we do everything possible to make enough power generation capacity in Ukraine to get through the winter."
'YOU'RE A TARGET'
By the light of lamps powered by portable generators, workers break chunks of concrete and cut pipes to reach equipment still buried beneath the rubble.
"It reduces me to tears. I know what it looked like when it was intact — everything was lit up, painted and working, producing electricity," said Mykhailo, 46, a senior power-unit operator.
Clearing the rubble is complicated by constant air-raid alerts, during which workers must descend into Soviet-era underground shelters built to protect against possible NATO missiles.
An air-raid alarm sounded during the Reuters visit and reporters rushed to the cramped rooms beneath the facility. Dozens of people waited for the alert to end, alongside several dogs which, workers say, also seek refuge there.
"It's hard to live through all this when you know the missiles are coming specifically for you, that you are a target," said Mykhailo.
"Then you come home and feel grateful that you made it, that you are home again, that you can see your family — it's a mixture of fear and relief."
TRANSMISSION LINES TARGETED
Before the war, Ukraine's thermal power plants generated more than 30% of its electricity. However, their share has fallen sharply after repeated attacks and Ukraine's three nuclear power plants now account for the lion's share of output.
DTEK — owned by Ukraine's richest man, billionaire Rinat Akhmetov — previously operated eight thermal plants and dominated Ukraine's coal-fired generation. But Russia has occupied or destroyed three of those during the conflict, Europe's biggest since World War Two.
Following summer repairs, Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal forecast Ukraine's power capacity would reach 19.6 gigawatts by November — roughly half its pre-war level but in line with last winter's peak consumption. Reuters could not confirm whether capacity had now reached that forecast level.
DTEK's CEO Timchenko said Russia was now also targeting transmission lines to prevent electricity produced by operating power plants in western and southern Ukraine from reaching consumers in the centre and east of the country, where local production facilities have been heavily damaged.
Electrical substations linking Ukraine's nuclear plants to major cities have become particular targets. However, both sides have been careful to avoid striking the nuclear power stations themselves to avoid a major disaster.
With the transmission lines damaged, Ukraine's central and eastern regions, including Kyiv, are being left without electricity for up to 18 hours a day, while power plants in western Ukraine are being forced to export significant volumes of electricity to Eastern Europe instead, data shows.
DiXi Group, a Kyiv-based climate and energy think tank, said Ukraine had increased its electricity exports by just over 40% in the week between November 2 and 8, while up to two-thirds of Ukrainian consumers could simultaneously have been experiencing blackouts.
"We have enough power generation in the country," Timchenko said. "The problem is about transmission."
(Writing by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Gareth Jones)
