The war is forcing Ukraine’s energy planners to be creative

protruding from an ash tree is a grim memorial to five workers killed in a Russian air-raid on Okhtyrka power station in March. No one is sure where the bit of metal came from. The bombs left little for forensics. Three victims were never found at all; one of the bodies that was recovered had to be buried without a head. To this day, the power station lies largely in ruins. The boiler room is now several feet underground. The pipes that once fed gas into it have been shredded. But the plant’s director, Grigory Yurko, is at work on a Sunday, overseeing building work he says will eventually bring it back to life. Mr Yurko, who fought for the Soviet Union during its occupation of Afghanistan, says there is no alternative if he is to heat 10,000 apartments through the winter: “The town will die without us.” Securing reliable energy to warm Ukrainian homes has never been easy. But the ruins in Okhtyrka, a north-eastern city that resisted the Russian invasion, underline the unique challenges now facing planners. Although winter is still four months away, it is not at all clear how much energy will be needed, or how much can be supplied. Part of the country remains under occupation. Another part is under fire. One-third of the country’s coal supplies are unavailable. Gas production is down by only around 5-10%, but almost all of it is located close to the front lines. It is widely assumed that Russia will step up its attacks on the most sensitive points: compressor stations, power stations, substations. For some reason, it has not routinely targeted such infrastructure so far. Okhtyrka shows what can happen when it does.