Ukraine's vital infrastructure
targeted by Russia, widespread
power outages are the norm.
It falls to local crews to
restring power line all the
while under fire.
From near the front lines in
southeastern Ukraine, a special
correspondent and videographer
report.
>> He hurries his men to prepare
for the day's work.
They change into uniforms,
apprehension apparent on every
face.
He recently turned 40.
For 20 years, he has not touched
a cigarette.
That has changed.
After the war arrived in his
hometown.
This brief smoke break is
interrupted.
Another incoming shall.
Though safe inside the shelter,
the booms keep on coming.
A terrifying soundtrack to a
Wednesday morning.
No break in the barrage but
urgent repairs areeqred to
restore power for the people
they serve.
>> With this kind of job, you
understand that you cannot
abandon your place of work.
>> He is a manager of the local
power company and worries about
his staff.
>> To lose a worker who has a
family, kids, wife, this team is
all young and that is the most
difficult.
Every day when my team goes out
and they are working, I worry so
much.
>> For the last half an hour,
the shelling has been pretty
constant.
As it team -- as the team goes
out to prepare wires, the
control room tells us that
electricity to the entire town
has been cut.
The engineer start packing up
their gear.
A band of brothers heading out
not to fight but to fix the
fighting's damage.
On this day, the shelling is too
severe for them to travel into
the town center.
Instead, they follow pylons
through plowed fields.
For hundreds of miles, front
lines and power lines crisscross
the conflict.
In their years on the job, the
men have you learned -- have
learned to move fast and pull
hard.
This job is dangerous in the
best of times.
On the horizon, a plume of smoke
signaling another shell.
We are about to an half miles
outside and tank tracks stretch
off into the field.
Those vehicles led to this
strike creature right here and
the shrapnel we found inside it
is what is damaging the wires
The frequency of fire has left
dozens of equally damaged sites
nearby.
Back in the dispatch center,
their colleagues discuss the
growing list of locations they
must visit.
Calls come in from residents
reporting yet more.
There is no power going through
there.
The mayor visits each day to
warn them where they cannot
safely go.
>> All three times there was
shelling and there was no chance
to repair the wires.
We cannot get there.
>> The Russians have taken the
area.
Is this the most damage to the
system you have ever seen?
Rattling windows the new normal.
You can hear it.
He explains how the drumbeat of
artillery has cut off all power.
This is the line that has been
cut between here and there.
Some homes already destroyed and
many more abandoned except for
the pets.
Anjali got and her husband are
collecting food to feed their
neighbors dogs.
>> We have come together as
never before.
We have shown this is happening
in the 21st century.
The war is terrifying.
>> She told us the electrical
workers exemplify the
solidarity.
>> These guys are just great.
They keep doing their work
despite the shooting.
No one fled.
It says a lot about them.
They care for others and not
just for themselves.
>> Despite the danger, he calls
his days work a duty.
>> We all understand, all of us
working on the grid.
That without electricity, there
will be chaos at bakeries and
the hospitals and at homes most
importantly.
So we understand that we have to
carry out our obligation to
provide people with energy.
Reporter: For the pbs newshour
from Ukraine.
Judy: Thank you.
A reminder that the "Newshour"
coverage of the war is supported
in part by the pulitzer center.