Hope for Ukraine Rushes Portable Solar to Kherson As Russia Hits Grid

As Russia launches major attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure ahead of winter, one non-profit delivering portable solar energy systems nationwide is turning to front-line Kherson, racing to reach households with little or no reliable power.

Seven people were killed and emergency power cuts were imposed in Kyiv and three other regions on September 30 after Russia launched its largest attack in months on Ukrainian energy facilities. Russia said in August that such strikes would respond to Ukrainian attacks on its oil refineries earlier in the year.

Last winter, similar Russian attacks left millions of civilians without adequate heating, even as temperatures plunged to -20°C.

Some 500 kilometres south of Kyiv, the city of Kherson is receiving about as much electricity as a single supermarket in the capital—because of Russian attacks on its infrastructure, officials say. Roughly 60,000 people have remained, about one-fifth of the pre-invasion population.

“As temperatures drop and infrastructure strikes continue, Kherson remains a frontline city operating almost entirely off-grid,” Hope for Ukraine CEO Yuriy Boyechko told The Energy Mix.

Boyechko’s non-profit delivers solar kits to Ukrainian families affected by grid attacks. It aims to surpass 3,200 kits distributed through its Solar Energy Resilience Program by year-end, adding to the more than 2,600 delivered since the program launched in January 2025. The initiative has been named a finalist in the Product Innovation and Social Impact categories of the 2026 Reuters Global Sustainability Awards.

Boyechko said residents are using the solar-powered units to keep phones charged for air-raid alerts and communications, run LED lights and laptops for children, and power small appliances for cooking during extended blackouts.

Getting the equipment to the families can be a challenge, Boyechko said. Damaged bridges and roads and restricted military checkpoints complicate access to front-line communities, while the continuing risk of attack requires the organization to use low-profile transportation and carefully manage distribution.

Hope for Ukraine is now trying to get as many systems as possible into Kherson before temperatures plunge, but Boyechko said requests are coming from communities across the country. “Right now we are flooded with requests for these units,” he told The Mix.

Once it reaches its year-end distribution target, the organization plans to expand the program into other front-line regions experiencing severe energy shortages.

That expansion is unfolding alongside a broader shift toward decentralized energy in Ukraine. Repeated Russian attacks on large-scale power infrastructure have increased interest in smaller sources of generation and storage that can continue supplying electricity when centralized systems are damaged or disconnected.

Boyechko believes the shift will continue well beyond the immediate demands of the war.

“Once this war is over, Ukraine will be a leader in renewable energy,” he said.