Fifteen employees of DTEK Odesa Electric Networks were honored for their contributions to restoring electricity supply in the Kherson region. The energy workers managed to restore electricity to almost two thousand families in Kherson after enemy shelling in February this year. The gratitude from the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine acknowledged the courage of those who worked in challenging conditions near the front lines.

This was reported by DTEK Odesa Electric Networks, with the award ceremony conducted by the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine. Specialists from various fields received recognition for their significant roles in restoring the energy infrastructure in dangerous zones.

An emergency situation arose in early February when Russian shelling damaged energy equipment in one of the areas of Kherson. Odesa energy workers promptly responded to their colleagues' requests and worked in shifts from mid-March to mid-April under extremely difficult conditions. They restored infrastructure just a few kilometers from the front, in marshy terrain with impassable roads.

“When our colleagues called for help, we didn’t hesitate for a moment. The work was challenging and dangerous, but we understood we were doing it for the people,” commented Dmytro Hryhoriev, the CEO of DTEK Odesa Electric Networks.

Through the joint efforts of the Odesa teams and Kherson energy workers, light and water were restored to residents after nearly two and a half months of outages. This successful operation demonstrated the high professionalism of Ukrainian energy workers and their willingness to risk their safety for the restoration of critical infrastructure amid war. The awards were an important recognition of the heroism in the energy sector.

Among those awarded from DTEK Odesa were:

• Serhiy Alekseev,
• Vadym Marymorych,
• Oleksiy Tymoshenko,
• Oleksandr Kudybin (relay protection center)
• Roman Chebotar,
• Serhiy Artemenko,
• Roman Timichev (substation repair center)
• Andriy Zhosan,
• Viktor Baranov,
• Andriy Yurash (isolation and protection center)
• Georgiy Boshkov,
• Mykola Kudrys (line repair center)
• Yuriy Deordiienko,
• Igor Mikhalievskyi,
• Vitaliy Fedoronchuk (transportation operations)

Meanwhile, Odesa region has been included in the list of eleven regions in Ukraine that may face electricity shortages during the summer, stated Oleg Popenko, head of the Utilities Consumers Union. The regions at risk also include Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, and Poltava. Due to Russian shelling, the energy system is not always capable of delivering sufficient generation during peak loads in hot weather, thus prioritizing electricity supply restrictions for businesses while residential consumers will receive electricity on a residual basis, although DTEK has not yet provided official comments regarding possible outages.