On October 10, 2022, the Russian military began massively shelling the energy infrastructure of Ukraine. In November, there was a blackout when all power units in Ukrainian-controlled nuclear power plants were cut off. Thus began the most difficult winter in the history of independent Ukraine.
Today, the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers publishes photos of Sergei Korovayny, taken during blackouts in different cities of Ukraine.
The Russian army began to massively shell Ukrainian energy infrastructure facilities in the fall of 2022. The Prosecutor General's Office reported that during the first year of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, the Russian military struck 255 times on energy facilities. The biggest problems with energy supply were in Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Kiev regions.
Due to Russia's massive shelling of Ukraine in the fall of last year, maneuvering power — electricity produced by thermal power plants and thermal power plants — suffered the most.
Nuclear power plants are still the main source of electricity for Ukraine. Despite the occupation of Zaporizhzhya NPP, nuclear power plants produce more than half of the electricity. The Russian military did not strike directly at the nuclear power plants, but instead shelled substations and power lines.
In addition to the capacities that produce electricity, distribution stations are an important part of the power system. By 2023, 42 of 94 critical high-voltage transformers were destroyed or damaged, according to a UN report. The last link in the power system is the power lines, which were also damaged due to shelling.
Photographer Serhiy Korovaynyi during the past autumn and winter took pictures of Ukrainian cities that were left without light for a while.
“I walked through different dark cities, I was in Dnipro, Kharkiv, Nikolaev. I filmed at home, filmed with friends, watched people go through these dark times,” says Serhiy Korovaynyi.
He adds that the sensations were very strange, and the blackout period sometimes even seemed cozy.
“I always thought that it would be better for these missiles to fly at critical infrastructure, not at the military at the front. I'm not sure that's the right idea. Civilians died from Russian shelling and now civilians are dying,” explains Sergey Korovaynyi.
Serhiy Korovaynyi— Ukrainian documentary photographer, actively covering the events of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Collaborates with international publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Guardian, Financaial Times and others. In his projects, he focuses on the topics of the Russian-Ukrainian war, ecology, and various aspects of Ukrainian modernity. He was educated in the United States in the Master's Program in Visual Storytelling as a Fulbright Program Fellow. In 2018, he joined The Gate, a leading Ukrainian photo agency. Sergey's works have been exhibited at numerous personal and collective exhibitions in Ukraine, the USA and the EU.
Photographer's social networks: Instagram, Facebook
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Kateryna Moskalyuk
Bild-editor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
Material created with the support of The Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation
On October 10, 2022, the Russian military began massively shelling the energy infrastructure of Ukraine. In November, there was a blackout when all power units in Ukrainian-controlled nuclear power plants were cut off. Thus began the most difficult winter in the history of independent Ukraine.
Today, the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers publishes photos of Sergei Korovayny, taken during blackouts in different cities of Ukraine.
The Russian army began to massively shell Ukrainian energy infrastructure facilities in the fall of 2022. The Prosecutor General's Office reported that during the first year of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, the Russian military struck 255 times on energy facilities. The biggest problems with energy supply were in Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Kiev regions.
Due to Russia's massive shelling of Ukraine in the fall of last year, maneuvering power — electricity produced by thermal power plants and thermal power plants — suffered the most.
Nuclear power plants are still the main source of electricity for Ukraine. Despite the occupation of Zaporizhzhya NPP, nuclear power plants produce more than half of the electricity. The Russian military did not strike directly at the nuclear power plants, but instead shelled substations and power lines.
In addition to the capacities that produce electricity, distribution stations are an important part of the power system. By 2023, 42 of 94 critical high-voltage transformers were destroyed or damaged, according to a UN report. The last link in the power system is the power lines, which were also damaged due to shelling.
Photographer Serhiy Korovaynyi during the past autumn and winter took pictures of Ukrainian cities that were left without light for a while.
“I walked through different dark cities, I was in Dnipro, Kharkiv, Nikolaev. I filmed at home, filmed with friends, watched people go through these dark times,” says Serhiy Korovaynyi.
He adds that the sensations were very strange, and the blackout period sometimes even seemed cozy.
“I always thought that it would be better for these missiles to fly at critical infrastructure, not at the military at the front. I'm not sure that's the right idea. Civilians died from Russian shelling and now civilians are dying,” explains Sergey Korovaynyi.
Serhiy Korovaynyi— Ukrainian documentary photographer, actively covering the events of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Collaborates with international publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Guardian, Financaial Times and others. In his projects, he focuses on the topics of the Russian-Ukrainian war, ecology, and various aspects of Ukrainian modernity. He was educated in the United States in the Master's Program in Visual Storytelling as a Fulbright Program Fellow. In 2018, he joined The Gate, a leading Ukrainian photo agency. Sergey's works have been exhibited at numerous personal and collective exhibitions in Ukraine, the USA and the EU.
Photographer's social networks: Instagram, Facebook
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Kateryna Moskalyuk
Bild-editor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
Material created with the support of The Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation
UAPP is an independent association of professional Ukrainian photographers, designed to protect their interests, support, develop and promote Ukrainian photography as an important element of national culture.
UAPP's activities span educational, social, research and cultural initiatives, as well as book publishing.
UAPP represents Ukrainian professional photography in the international photographic community and is an official member of the Federation of European Photographers (FEP) — an international organization representing more than 50,000 professional photographers in Europe and other countries around the world.
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