When Russian missiles hurtle toward a Ukrainian power plant and employees scramble for the bomb shelter, a handful of workers stay above ground in a control room protected by sandbags to keep the system running manually.
The facility, the location of which energy officials asked not to be identified for security reasons, has been pounded by missiles this year in an aerial assault on the grid that Russia renewed this month as the war's third winter sets in.
"When there are attacks, we stay here even though we know there are missiles coming at us. ... To say we're not afraid is not true because we are all living, normal people and we are afraid," said Serhii, a 52-year-old shift leader who has worked at the plant for over 30 years.
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