Light
Overcomes
Darkness

“On February 23, none of us, even in our wildest dream, could imagine that in just a few hours we would be forced to repair power lines in our towns and villages under shelling from enemy MRLS and artillery. Transforming our teams into warriors of the energy front restoring power to the cannonades of shelling, sounds of explosions and sometimes risking their lives.

A bulletproof vest became a standard working tool, while a hardhat needed to be disguised since it could be seen from afar and russian occupiers may start shooting at the energy worker when they see one. It was hard and dangerous. But we understood how important the supply of energy is for the country, enabling the functioning of military facilities, hospitals, food industry, etc. Therefore, we started arranging our crews’ work to restore power from the first hours of the full-scale offensive.

In the conditions of war, DTEK was and is contributing to the energy safety of Ukraine and to the victory of light over darkness.”

“In early April, the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated Kyiv region from the occupants. Our specialists entered the liberated areas of the region right after the military and SES specialists. What we could only imagine, we now saw with our own eyes.

Many settlements required building of the grid from the scratch: re-laying overhead lines, installing new poles and transformers, switches and switchgears. Over 1,700 power facilities of the region were destroyed. But we did not give up. We had no time for despair.

People needed electricity, and the sooner the better. They had waited long enough. So, we all went to work.”

“In the first days of the russia’s attack, I received a telephone call from a former colleague, who had been retired for several years. He said that he had already contacted other former colleagues, who were retired, and all of them were ready to help restore the damaged grids. I told management about the offer and of course they agreed to it.

This is how a “grey” crew was established (composed of experienced energy workers, already retired as of February 24, 2022) with me in charge. We went to restore grids in the Vyshhorod district, which each of us knew like the back of our hands. But when we arrived there, we barely recognized the place and what was there before.

I have been working in the energy industry for 30 years, yet I have never seen such destruction of equipment. What kept us going was our families, who we contacted every day for at least a few minutes. As well as the people who did not abandon their homes and had endured all the horrors of the occupation, and who were now waiting for restoration of power, which they saw as the greatest miracle of their life.

When the light finally came on in their homes, the adults, who have seen so much in their lives, simply started crying like babies. I will never forget that. We were and are doing everything within our power for the sake of victory.

We believe and we know that victory will be ours, and that everything will be Ukraine”!

“We have restored high-voltage overhead grids and 35 kW cable lines that were destroyed by hostilities in the Kyiv region. The damage was significant. Hundreds of kilometers of lines were torn by projectile fragments. The most difficult section of the lines was in Irpin. We worked from one end and the guys from Kyiv Regional Grids – from the other. I thought that we will not make it in a week. But we wanted to restore electricity to people as soon as possible. We repaired the line in two days.

We were always accompanied by the military. They saw the dangerous conditions we worked in and helped us. There was no mobile connection back then and the military gave us walkie-talkies so that we could contact each other and coordinate our work.

This was what saved our lives. When we were handed walkie-talkies, we were delayed at the checkpoint for half an hour, waiting for them to arrive. And this is when an enemy shell hit the place where we were supposed to work. Our colleagues from “Ukrenergo” were there and came under fire. There were wounded. Fortunately, everyone survived. God and the military saved us. In general, I would like to say that our energy workers are a true friendly team. We endured a lot together.

And now we are one big family. I am sure that we will be fine. The victory is ours!”

“There were 10 crews of energy workers and 30 units of special machinery that left the Odesa region to come and help our colleagues from Kyiv Regional Grids. There were five men in my crew. We worked in the village of Horenka. The scope of the work was large. The lines were heavily damaged. We had to almost build them anew. We worked for almost a month, living in a partially destroyed dormitory in Irpin. Obviously, there was no electricity, heating, or water. We found the more or less intact rooms. We lived all together to make it warmer. It was hard. We realized that we have to complete our work quickly, since without electricity all life in the region was paralyzed and people, who due to the occupation had survived all these horrors, needed the electricity as never before. We completed our task in three weeks. By Easter, power was restored.”

“I could never have thought that in the 21st century in our country, in the center of Europe, there could be any sort of hostilities. I had no fear. Only worries. For the children. For those, who were under occupation. For the country. Once a message arrived that there is a need to restore the grids in the Kyiv region – we agreed without hesitation. The crews were quickly staffed. There were more people willing to go then needed. Our task was to restore power to the Makariv district. When we arrived, there was almost no one there. Only the dogs were roaming the streets, and even they were not barking – only huddling against the fences. It is scary to even imagine what happened to the people who were under occupation. Bombed houses were everywhere.

There were 18 of us and eight units of machinery. We worked from April 12 till May 10. We lived in Chervona Sloboda. Spent the night in the church and the local school administration fed us. Our goal was to restore power to people by Easter. The last couple of days before Easter we worked till midnight to make it on time. And we succeeded. As soon as we restored the power supply, people started returning to Makariv. It lifted the spirits. People came to thank us. Hugged us. Cried. There was one house in Buzova with nothing left of it – only ruins. The owners – an elderly couple, were practically left homeless. But when we walked by their yard, they approached to thank us for restoration of power to their village.”

“Light is like bread – everyone needs it. We were told this by a resident of Irpin when he saw our crew work during the restoration of the city after de-occupation.

And this statement basically became the wartime slogan of our energy workers. DTEK is extremely lucky with its employees. They clearly understood that their work is an important part of our country’s energy security and victory.

After surviving the occupation of the Kyiv region and after restoration of power supply, we felt that we must do something that will remain in the memory of the region, town, residents, and our employees. A reminder of what we went through together.

But a reminder of the difficulties that the region faced today and the need for victory. A reminder about the light that overcame darkness, which was how the idea of creating a sculpture was born."

“When Kyiv region was occupied in February 2022, my family and I were in Kyiv. I saw everything with my own eyes and deeply felt all those events, just like every Ukrainian.

In order to support all our heroes, who are defending the country at the front, including the energy one, I decided to devote my art to the theme of war.

I saw pictures on social media of energy workers restoring power to the Kyiv region after de-occupation. I was impressed by their ability to restore power as soon as possible to our homes in very hard and dangerous conditions.

I felt infinite gratitude to these courageous people. Back then I decided that contemporary art can help bring attention to the energy industry during the war.

This is why I joined the project of creating this sculpture, which would remind everyone of a feat that Ukrainian energy workers did and continue doing.”

“When we started making a sculpture, we decided to add elements of real equipment to it: a pole, insulators, and wires that energy workers used to restore power to the city of Irpin.

We also made a backlight of its specific details and along the perimeter, as a symbol of light restored to our homes by the energy workers.

In general, it speaks about the heroic work of our electricians, who were restoring power supply in the Kyiv region, and in my native Irpin in particular, after de-occupation in spring 2022.

For me personally and for all of us, it is a symbol of victory of good over evil, light over darkness. I believe this is how it is going to be.”