Ukraine’s Energy Strategy Shows How Democracy Can Outlast War

A worker is inspecting the damage at the Kharkiv Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP) in the Kharkiv Region, northeastern Ukraine, on April 11, 2024, after it was damaged by Russian shelling. (Photo by Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

NurPhoto via Getty Images

Amid a brutal war, Ukraine shows that democracy is not just an ideal but also a powerful tool—especially when applied to energy. Even as Russia attacks power plants, grids, and neighborhoods, Ukraine’s energy system has endured and adapted, becoming a decentralized network that keeps homes lit, factories running, and morale intact.

Ukraine’s resilience proves that authoritarian tactics ultimately fail not just militarily but economically and morally. Dictatorships exhaust themselves through destruction, but democracies adapt and grow stronger—a lesson Washington sometimes forgets.

“We build new projects, we protect them as much as we can, we improve the resilience of our energy system, and we protect our people. This is what we call the energy frontline,” says Maxim Timchenko, CEO of DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, in an interview with me. His company’s role in this fight, he explains, is not just about restoring power—it’s about defending democracy itself. “Either you rebuild quickly and deliver results, or you lose. First, you lose business, then you lose country.”

Timchenko openly discussed how his company’s investments in battery storage, solar, and wind are not merely green-transition gestures but are key defenses in an ongoing energy war—and symbols of the nation’s undying spirit.

Its most recent action has been to install batteries and renewable projects. They are not temporary fixes but technological shields designed to maintain grid stability. DTEK introduced a 200-megawatt battery system today—built by U.S.-based Fluence—that is two hundred times larger than Ukraine’s initial pilot project.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the totalitarian regime has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s power system. By mid-2024, persistent drone and missile attacks had destroyed nearly 90% of some power stations’ generation capacity. Yet, Ukraine did not collapse. By last winter, after significant reconstruction, rolling blackouts were rare, and power shortages were mostly localized.

Timchenko explains that Ukraine’s resilience stems from decentralization. Instead of relying on large coal plants that can be easily destroyed with a few bombs, DTEK is investing in scattered solar farms, wind parks, and battery storage—energy systems that are harder to hit and easier to repair.

Decentralization as Defense

These systems are spread across six locations to mitigate the risk from airstrikes. Operators can restore local wind or solar power within days—something that takes months for traditional thermal plants.

“Energy security for our country is our top priority,” says Timchenko. “If we build renewable energy units, then we only need the sun or wind. It’s all dispersed, making it much harder to target. Plus, we can install it near where it’s used, so we don’t lose power while transferring it across the country.”

In Ukraine, decisions are made faster, processes are transparent, and entrepreneurs can innovate with minimal bureaucratic friction. In contrast, Russia’s authoritarian regime is defined by destruction and fear. Its repeated targeting of civilian infrastructure—from thermal plants to refineries—is designed to make life unbearable and break the spirit of simple people.

Democracy’s advantage, as the Ukrainians are proving, is its ability to adapt under pressure. Timchenko is careful to note that the country’s energy security is not guaranteed; intensified attacks will undoubtedly test the system again. But the broader message is unmistakable: Ukraine refuses to be broken.

This is reinforced by DTEK’s call to the international investment community. Projects like the Fluence battery storage and Danish wind parks are not only helping maintain power—they are an invitation to investors to participate in rebuilding a country under fire. The subtext is that Ukraine is open for business, even as it fights to live.

Ukraine’s successes highlight a more profound geopolitical truth: autocratic aggression does not automatically translate into dominance. Russia has suffered repeated military embarrassments, and its standing on the global stage has eroded. Its alignment with figures like North Korea’s Kim Jong Un symbolizes the isolation and reputational decay of a regime that relies on coercion rather than consent.

Even if military victory in the conventional sense remains uncertain, Russia has been diminished in ways that extend far beyond the battlefield. Compared to pre-war growth projections, its GDP is 6-10% smaller than what it would have been, according to the World Bank. Growth has slowed to 1-2% a year despite surging military spending.

“At home, Russia’s wartime economy looks like a parody of the Soviet stagnation,” writes Jeremy Shapiro, director of research at the European Council on Foreign Relations, in The Atlantic. “The Kremlin says it’s waging a war of destiny; in reality, it’s missing the 21st century.”

Russia’s Diminishing Power

Meanwhile, Western estimates suggest Russian military casualties number in the hundreds of thousands—a staggering cost that diminishes its future capacity. The pain is felt on both sides, although the Kremlin appears to be inured to it.

“Russians were not selective at all when attacking civil infrastructure. Their goal is to make life impossible or miserable for ordinary people,” Timchenko said. “We are doing everything, sometimes the impossible, to ensure they do not succeed.”

Indeed, companies from the U.S., Germany, Denmark, and Finland have introduced cutting-edge technology to Ukraine’s energy sector, showing that democracy encourages collaboration and innovation even during war. Timchenko emphasizes that personal liberties enable speed and innovation, allowing entrepreneurs to mobilize resources and execute projects efficiently and effectively.

This agility has allowed Ukraine not only to withstand repeated attacks on its infrastructure but also to rebuild and recover on a large scale—something almost unheard of in modern warfare. According to Timchenko, the Danish company Vestas is constructing a 500-megawatt wind farm—one of the largest in Eastern Europe—in Ukraine, along with substantial battery storage. It will all be integrated into the national grid to provide temporary power where needed.

For U.S. and global policymakers, the lesson is stark. Democratic systems, when nourished and leveraged, offer resilience, adaptability, and long-term strategic advantages that closed systems cannot replicate.

The question of how American leadership, including figures like Donald Trump, responds to this model of democratic endurance is more than academic. Support for Ukraine—through aid, diplomacy, or energy investment—signals not just solidarity with a nation under attack but a commitment to free peoples. Ignoring that lesson endangers economies and ingenuity.

For Ukraine, the stakes are high. If it can build partnerships and boost its energy security by developing wind and solar farms and installing battery storage, it safeguards itself from attack—and the international community from the dominance of dictatorial regimes. That’s how global alliances and agreements function. Countries that shut their doors and hide will lose.

The Geopolitical Lesson

Ukraine is showing that democracy is not an abstract ideal but a tangible cause and essential to its survival. And while Russia may still hold weapons and territory, Ukraine has exposed the limits of autocracy: it can destroy and intimidate—but it cannot innovate or endure as effectively as a free society united in purpose.

“In the first years of the war, we asked for aid, equipment, and financial support. Now we’re talking about opportunities in Ukraine that include investments and partnerships—making it about business rather than charity,” says Timchenko. “We need partners to help us build a more resilient energy system, so we can face all these attacks by the Russians—and every year we become stronger.”

Ukraine’s energy resilience exemplifies how democracy feeds economic stamina. As the country powers its homes, industries, and ambitions through determination and innovation, it sends a strong message: authoritarianism can damage infrastructure, but it cannot eliminate freedom, ingenuity, or a nation’s will to triumph.