×

News publications and other organizations are encouraged to reuse Direct Relief-published content for free under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International), given the republisher complies with the requirements identified below.

When republishing:

  • Include a byline with the reporter’s name and Direct Relief in the following format: "Author Name, Direct Relief." If attribution in that format is not possible, include the following language at the top of the story: "This story was originally published by Direct Relief."
  • If publishing online, please link to the original URL of the story.
  • Maintain any tagline at the bottom of the story.
  • With Direct Relief's permission, news publications can make changes such as localizing the content for a particular area, using a different headline, or shortening story text. To confirm edits are acceptable, please check with Direct Relief by clicking this link.
  • If new content is added to the original story — for example, a comment from a local official — a note with language to the effect of the following must be included: "Additional reporting by [reporter and organization]."
  • If republished stories are shared on social media, Direct Relief appreciates being tagged in the posts:
    • Twitter (@DirectRelief)
    • Facebook (@DirectRelief)
    • Instagram (@DirectRelief)

Republishing Images:

Unless stated otherwise, images shot by Direct Relief may be republished for non-commercial purposes with proper attribution, given the republisher complies with the requirements identified below.

  • Maintain correct caption information.
  • Credit the photographer and Direct Relief in the caption. For example: "First and Last Name / Direct Relief."
  • Do not digitally alter images.

Direct Relief often contracts with freelance photographers who usually, but not always, allow their work to be published by Direct Relief’s media partners. Contact Direct Relief for permission to use images in which Direct Relief is not credited in the caption by clicking here.

Other Requirements:

  • Do not state or imply that donations to any third-party organization support Direct Relief's work.
  • Republishers may not sell Direct Relief's content.
  • Direct Relief's work is prohibited from populating web pages designed to improve rankings on search engines or solely to gain revenue from network-based advertisements.
  • Advance permission is required to translate Direct Relief's stories into a language different from the original language of publication. To inquire, contact us here.
  • If Direct Relief requests a change to or removal of republished Direct Relief content from a site or on-air, the republisher must comply.

For any additional questions about republishing Direct Relief content, please email the team here.

As Ukraine’s Energy Grid Struggles, a Life-Saving Reserve Kicks In

News

Ukraine Relief

Technician Ivan Burya (right) instructs colleagues in the installation of Tesla Powerwall 2.0 systems at the central hospital in the eastern Ukrainian town of Dergachi in November 2023. Burya was one of 13 Ukrainian technicians who attended a Tesla training course in Poland earlier that year and in turn trained additional staff across Ukraine. (Nick Allen/Direct Relief)
By Nick Allen

Health facilities in Ukraine are better able to handle outages in the country, thanks to a strengthening of resilient power systems, even as the country enters its fourth winter of war. More than 2,000 power units are operating, allowing patient services to continue, even during drone and missile attacks.

The installation of hundreds of Tesla Powerwall 2.0 units – large 13.5 kWh lithium-ion battery systems that provide vital extra hours of electricity when the main grid fails – provided by Direct Relief and other actors through the Ministry of Digital Transformation in Kyiv, helped to achieve this resilience, along with the training of local technicians to maintain them.

As the mercury already drops below freezing at night, the project’s effects are evident across the country, especially in the second-largest city of Kharkiv and the surrounding region, which, due to its shared border with Russia, experiences almost daily explosions with little or no warning.

Positive Impact Resonates Ahead of the Freeze

Ukrainian technicians attended a Tesla Powerwall 2.0 installation and maintenance training course in Warsaw in February 2024. (Nick Allen/Direct Relief)

“Before installing the Tesla Powerwall system, we repeatedly faced sudden power outages, which posed a threat to patients on life support or undergoing surgery,” said Ruslan Vrahov, director of the Kharkiv Regional Clinical Hospital, the territory’s key medical facility. Diesel generators could not always provide a stable power supply as they take time to start up and are fuel-thirsty.

“The Tesla Powerwall system was a real solution to the hospital’s energy instability problem. Today, it provides uninterrupted power to the maternity ward, operating theaters, adult, pediatric, and cardiology intensive care units, and the emergency department,” said Vrahov. “Thanks to the autonomous power supply, more than 1,500 patients receive medical care every month without the risk of interrupting procedures or treatment.”

Lives have been saved as a result, stressed the head of the hospital, which has more than 40 departments, many of which operate 24/7.

Tesla Powerwall 2.0 units supplied by Direct Relief ensure lighting in eight operating theaters at the National Cancer Institute in Kyiv during disruptions to the energy grid. (Nick Allen/Direct Relief)

Here and in 22 other regions, more than 1,100 units help safeguard medical capacities in what, to outside observers, seem like impossible conditions of human endurance. The health service has been heavily impacted by the war: Since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, more than 2,300 medical facilities were damaged, including 305 fully destroyed, according to the Ministry of Health.

In addition to supporting healthcare, the project ensures the function of other critical and social infrastructure facilities, including educational institutions (schools, kindergartens, boarding schools), units of the State Emergency Service, and local administrative services, without which communities will quickly break down in the event of prolonged outages.

Together with the ministry and a Kharkiv-based core partner, the Yevhen Pyvovarov Charitable Foundation, or CFYP, Direct Relief donated over the past two years more than 2,000 units during a dark chapter of Ukraine’s modern history.

Overall, this cooperation has “allowed our people to continue to live despite all attempts to break their will,” said former Deputy Minister for Digital Transformation Yegor Dubinsky, who for two years worked closely with Direct Relief on the project.

Building on a Joint Pilot Initiative

Technicians at the genetics laboratory at Kyiv’s Okhmatdyt National Specialized Children’s Hospital stand by a donated back-up system in November 2024. The unit worked repeatedly in the summer months during Russian strikes, helping to avert damage to sensitive equipment and the loss of perishable tissue samples. (Nick Allen/Direct Relief)

The story began in summer 2023, when the Polish government and several international partners arranged a donation of 508 Tesla Powerwalls for Ukraine. Direct Relief played a central logistics role – funding transportation and helping deliver the units into the country – and partnered with CFYP in the installation at clinics and municipal sites in frontline regions.

Those initial units were an early, highly visible tranche that demonstrated the potential of battery backups to blunt outages and protect clinical services. Direct Relief reinforced this with a donation of 2,032 more units that are now almost all in service.

“Currently, the power supply situation is satisfactory, with diesel generators operating during outages, but we expect winter to be quite critical due to systematic shelling of generating capacities. Therefore, we will actively use our Tesla Powerwalls,” said Oleg Polozhenko, the deputy head of digital transformation and development at Kyiv’s Okhmatdyt National Specialized Children’s Hospital. Badly damaged by a Russian missile in 2023, this center of pediatric excellence received 10 batteries that sustain several departments, including its Medical Genetics Laboratory and the Blood Service Center.

In a further possible measure to bolster Ukraine’s energy capacities, Direct Relief is analyzing the potential for supplying solar panels to power the batteries during the hot summers. For now, though, recipients expressed confidence that they are well prepared for the looming cold months.

Filed Under: , , , ,

Giving is Good Medicine

You don't have to donate. That's why it's so extraordinary if you do.

Receive Alerts