Boxing champion Usyk backs Ukrainian energy workers in visit to liberated territory

World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Oleksandr Usyk has met with Ukrainian energy workers and thanked them for restoring vital national infrastructure destroyed by russia. Usyk, who beat Britain’s Tyson Fury to become world champion in Jun, visited Moshchun near Kyiv, where infrastructure was ripped apart in a month-long occupation and battle. 

“I want to help and do everything in my power to draw global attention to the destruction of our energy system due to attacks and the need for restoration,” Usyk told DTEK teams in Moshchun. “(You) are doing incredible things today by restoring damaged and destroyed facilities. It is a true fight for light.”

Over 10,000 km of power lines, 71 high-voltage substations and nearly 3,000 transformer points were damaged or destroyed around Kyiv during russia’s occupation in the initial months after full-scale invasion in February 2022.

In a rapid mobilisation, DTEK drafted some 1,000 workers from across Ukraine into the area to restore lines, General Director of DTEK Kyiv Regional Electric Networks Vitalii Shaida told Usyk. Within 45 days of its liberation they had reconnected the entire region, allowing thousands to return home and begin rebuilding their lives.


Ukraine’s fight for light continues today. After a massive increase in russian attacks on Ukrainian power stations beginning in March 2024, the country has lost around half its generating capacity. DTEK and other operators across the system are working flat out to restore as much as possible before winter.

We call on our allies abroad to step in with urgent funding and equipment so DTEK can rebuild power stations. We also urge Ukraine’s military friends to help close Ukraine’s skies to russian terror by strengthening our air defences.