Moldova, a staging ground for humanitarian aid for Ukraine, is the latest victim of the Russian attacks on the grid that began in earnest Oct. 10 with a massive missile and drone attack that heavily damaged transmission lines and caused 1.4 million Ukrainians to lose power. Microgrid advocates point to such attacks as an example of the danger of relying on centralized energy systems with a single point of failure. They can cause power outages for miles beyond the actual point of attack.
Poweroutage.com had been tracking Ukraine’s outages, but has stopped. Ukrainian officials are now classifying the data, given that it can be used by the enemy to locate vulnerabilities.
But Shmotolokha is deeply aware of what’s happening because of his frequent communications with doctors and others in the country as he tries to get solar panels, batteries, medical headlamps and other equipment to those in need.