ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
In Ukraine, at least a million people were left without power today after another Russian bombardment of the already damaged energy grid. Russian leader Vladimir Putin said it was a comprehensive strike in response to Ukraine's use of U.S.-made long-range missiles inside Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia used highly destructive cluster munitions in its overnight attack. In Kyiv, producers Hanna Palamarenko and Volodymyr Solohub found that people have gotten used to days like this one.
YEVEN HUTMAN: We have this big missile attacks every day, every week, every month.
SHAPIRO: Yeven Hutman (ph) says it may sound fatalistic, but his feelings are just not as sharp about this attack as they were for the first ones nearly three years ago now.
HUTMAN: Nobody wants this tough winter, but we are all prepared in some way. Of course, we have our power banks. We have all the stuff that we need to - for example, to work from home and other things. But yeah, it's tiring.
ANASTASIA SHALUKINA: The guys on the front line - they feel worse, so we have nothing to complain about, and it's reality.
SHAPIRO: Anastasia Shalukina (ph) says she has decent Wi-Fi and some backup power at home. Although, when she goes out, she carries a tourniquet. She understands she has been desensitized to some daily realities of war but not all of them.
SHALUKINA: It's very scary to say that it's become, like, a normal and regular thing because when I'm going abroad, when I hear the fireworks, I - like, I got the panic attack.
SHAPIRO: Even before today, previous attacks on energy infrastructure meant that millions of Ukrainians were already facing a winter with up to 20 hours of electricity cuts per day. And to help keep the lights on, workers are rushing to repair damaged power plants before the harsh frost sets in. NPR's Joanna Kakissis recently visited one of those plants.
(SOUNDBITE OF SHOVEL SCRAPING)
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: Two women in hard hats scrape pulverized concrete out of a dark, broken room. They're inside a thermal power plant, where they've worked for years. Lesia says she should be operating the conveyor belt that delivers coal - Ukraine's main fuel source - to the plant's furnace. But earlier this year, a Russian missile hit the plant.
LESIA: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: "The attack really shook everything up," Lesia says. "Look at all this mess. That used to be the conveyor belt."
She remembers everyone running to the bomb shelter the day of the attack.
LESIA: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: "And we stayed there a long time, like, three hours," she says. "We hoped the missile would hit somewhere else, but it came right at our plant. We heard the explosions from the shelter."
The attack left Lesia in a constant state of fear, but she and her colleagues have returned to the plant every day for months to fix it. This plant is owned by DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy supplier. Russia has struck all six of DTEK's thermal power plants this year. At the request of the company, NPR is not disclosing the plant's location or the last names of its workers for security reasons.
OLEKSANDR: (Non-English language spoken).
KAKISSIS: Oleksandr manages the plant. He says Russia has already attacked it several times. He worries about morale.
OLEKSANDR: (Non-English language spoken).
KAKISSIS: "There was a lot of panic after the first strike," he says. "We are civilians. We aren't trained to deal with this. After the first couple of attacks, though, it became clear that this was not going to end, and we had to get used to it."
We walk through the plant on a cold, rainy day. There are teams on cranes and crews on the ground. Birds rest on heaps of rubble and twisted metal.
VASYL: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: A manager named Vasyl steps over a muddy pile of bricks. He's in charge of repairs.
VASYL: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: "Boilers, turbines, generators, and also equipment for fuel supply," he says, "all this needs to be restored."
VASYL: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: He says workers are learning how to do this on the fly, following safety precautions in case something collapses.
(SOUNDBITE OF MACHINERY HUMMING)
KAKISSIS: Outside, a crew is working on the switch yard, which connects the plant to the transmission network. They wear heavy protective suits to prevent electrocution. Andriy is the crew's leader.
ANDRIY: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: "We replaced all those wires," he says. "Over there, you can see the new ones. Everything was damaged after the missile exploded."
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).
KAKISSIS: This is the scene at power plants all over Ukraine. Energy officials say the damage would've been much worse without support from the European Union and the U.S. Ukraine's allies have donated air defense systems to shoot down Russian drones and missiles.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: The heart of the substation because it...
KAKISSIS: The U.S. Agency for International Development also supplied raw materials to the Ukrainians for protective measures. Ukraine's state energy company, Ukrenergo, used materials like rebar and concrete to build shelters around critical equipment. USAID administrator Samantha Power examined one of these shelters during an October visit to Ukraine.
SAMANTHA POWER: What we have learned over this very difficult wartime period is there is no panacea. But if something slips past air defense, if the Ukrainians are not able to shoot down - whether it be a drone or a missile - this physical protection has made a profound difference in keeping energy online.
(SOUNDBITE OF STEAM HISSING)
KAKISSIS: And so has the seemingly Sisyphean task of fixing energy equipment after every Russian strike. At the DTEK power plant we visited, crews are working overtime. A mechanic named Petro is replacing pipes that pump out coal waste.
PETRO: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: "We just have to finish before it gets really cold," he says. "Sooner even - as soon as possible, at least," he says, "before the next Russian missile strike."
Joanna Kakissis, NPR News, reporting from a power plant in Ukraine. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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