At the boiler house where Svitlana Mitina works, the boilers have a very thick lining, and when power outages occur, the boilers need to be cooled down quickly to prevent damage to heating networks and residential heating systems. During the last heating season, when Russia started targeting critical infrastructure in Ukraine leading to frequent emergency power outages, the boilers had to be cooled down several times a day. It was difficult for the energy workers to continue working with constant electricity and water supply interruptions.
On February 24, 2022, Svitlana was on shift, when Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. With her 17 years of experience in the energy sector, Mitina was able to imagine the possible consequences of enemy attacks on heating networks – and they were not good. When asked if she thought about leaving, and why she stayed, Svitlana answers: “Some people leave the country, and others stay. For those who stay, it is important to have heat and hot water, especially in winter. And we, the power engineers, can provide people with basic access to heat and hot water. Therefore, I did not consider the possibility of leaving the country.”
One of the boiler houses of Kyivski Teplovi Merezhi, where Svitlana Mitina works as a senior boiler operator, serves 51 apartment buildings, three kindergartens, two schools, and 62 administrative buildings. Three boilers provide heat to these consumers; two are constantly operating, and one is a reserve unit. At the beginning of the war, the energy workers had to work for two to three days in a row. “I love my machines as if they were my relatives. I know them perfectly, which is why I enjoy my work,” Svitlana sincerely admits.
Svitlana is very fond of animals and has two small dogs. She takes them with her to work to avoid leaving them alone for the whole day. She says they are very obedient. During the power outages last winter, when she had to urgently turn off equipment, Svitlana told her dogs, “Don’t interfere.” In response to this command, the dogs quickly took their place in the corner and didn’t move, waiting for Svitlana’s permission.
Today, senior boiler operator Svitlana Mitina trains new employees, works for Ukraine’s victory, and dreams of the time after the war without alerts, forests without trenches, and suburbs without mines. She dreams of going to the forest to pick mushrooms and riding a bike on peaceful country roads.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its Energy Security Project (ESP), has been helping the utility company Kyivteploenergo provide heat to more than one million Kyiv residents. This assistance includes:
- 11.2 km of pre-insulated pipes and valves to replace sections of the network, which made it possible to reconnect 20,000 consumers to heat and hot water supply in Kyiv just before the start of the new heating season.
- 137 diesel and gasoline power generators to reduce the impact of power outages and help the utility company supply heat to residents. The low-power generators are used for on-site repairs. The larger power generators are used to back up the electrical components of the heat sources, increasing the resilience of KTE’s heating system.
- 2,637 tons of industrial salt for chemical water treatment, which ensured the operation of heat supply equipment in the last heating season and increased the security of heat supply for KTE’s consumers.
- 4 excavators to quickly repair damaged heating networks and restore heat and hot water supply to the city’s critical infrastructure, households, and businesses.
- 20,320 meters of cable products to repair the damage caused by Russia’s targeted attacks on KTE’s heating networks.