Ukraine is trying to keep its lights on this winter. Russia aims to turn them off

Utility workers north of Lyman, Ukraine, work on restringing electrical poles in an effort to brace the country's energy system against another winter of expected Russian attacks. (Claire Harbage/NPR)

NORTH OF LYMAN, Ukraine — The race to repair this single thread of Ukraine's war-mangled electrical grid is carried out by workers in flak jackets and combat helmets alongside a rutted dirt road.

Utility workers hack and saw at leafless trees, careful to stay between plastic flagging which signifies where sappers — working some 100 yards ahead — have already swept for explosives and land mines. More workers follow with a truck and crane, stringing new power lines from one shrapnel-scarred power pole to the next.