Yurii has always taken pride in his work as an electrical engineer, even though his contribution to society wasn’t often acknowledged.
“In regular circumstances, in peacetime, people rarely notice us power engineers,” he says.
A year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Yurii’s workplace has been a repeated target for missiles. The substation where he works has been attacked three times. It’s his team's job to keep repairing it—a difficult and dangerous task.
Since the beginning of October 2022, Russian attacks on energy infrastructure have intensified, disrupting essential services and causing blackouts. Helping people stay warm and ensuring power in hospitals, schools and community centres is a matter of life or death, particularly for the most vulnerable.
Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is significantly damaged, and 18 million Ukrainians need emergency assistance, a fact that drives Yurii’s team to work harder every day, in the face of enormous potential sacrifice.
“None of them quit. There were people who volunteered and went to the front line. But no one was afraid of the responsibility that falls on the shoulders of power engineers,” he says.
With the Government of Ukraine and its partners, UNDP, supported by the European Union and the governments and people of Japan, Germany, Republic of Korea, Sweden and Norway, is buying specialized energy equipment that keeps the power flowing, especially when temperatures fall below zero, and keeps schools and hospitals working.
At the request of the Ukrainian Government and on behalf of the UN system, UNDP is co-leading an assessment of damage to energy infrastructure, jointly with the World Bank, that will pinpoint critical needs for every region and sector of the economy.
UNDP is buying high-voltage auto-transformers and other equipment which will restore important links in the broken energy network and ensure an uninterrupted supply of electricity, water and heating.
UNDP’s programming is also looking to Ukraine’s future energy needs and working with the government to lay the foundations to build forward better, with a focus on boosting energy security through clean, affordable and renewable energies.
“Energy is a backbone industry which is critical both for Ukraine’s thriving small businesses and large manufacturing sectors. Our aim is to support a massive energy transformation by becoming more efficient, greener, and resilient to shocks. We are laying the groundwork for that right now,” said Jaco Cilliers, UNDP Ukraine Resident Representative.
A year into the war, Yurii’s work is now recognized, and strangers stop to thank him for fighting on what is seen as another front in the conflict.
“They know where I work, and they thank me for my work, saying: ‘You’re a hero!’ I am not a hero. We have 8,000 heroes who are the employees of our company, Ukrenergo,” he says.
A big part of Yuri’s fortitude comes from the love and support of his family; he says the war has brought them closer together, and that has helped him to stay mentally strong for the daily threats he faces.
“I have a feeling now that if you want to do something, do it now. If you want to say something kind and warm to someone, do it. Say it now, because tomorrow you may not have this opportunity.”
Like every Ukrainian, Yurii dreams of peace. But he also has a small personal career goal for when the war ends: to return to the time when the essential role that he and his brothers and sisters in arms fill went largely unheralded.
“We want to work in peacetime. We want to return to our regular duties. We want to build so that people can feel joy from our work. And so that people notice us less.”
© 2026 United Nations Development Programme
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