Locations‘Keeping the line of life open’
When people talk about the “resilience” of Ukrainians, Oksana Starodubtseva is one of those who exemplifies the meaning of the word every single day.
A professional embroiderer and garment cutter by training, Oksana once lived a life dedicated to creativity and craft. But after following in her mother’s footsteps into the gas industry, Oksana's path took a dramatic turn toward the frontline of Ukraine’s energy security.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, her job has changed completely: What was once routine maintenance has become emergency response under constant threat. Today, she leads a team repairing gas pipelines in an area near the constantly attacked town of Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, not far from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Oksana and her team are often among the first to arrive after attacks, working to repair damaged gas pipelines and prevent further danger to residents. Drones, artillery, and repeated strikes make even basic movement dangerous. At times, the team cannot use vehicles because they risk being targeted, forcing them to reach sites on foot.
“We are afraid, of course,” Oksana says. “But we keep working, because people are waiting for us.”
Each call-out carries risk. She recalls a recent emergency where a drone attack forced her and her team to dive for cover behind a fence, lying motionless among a local villager's goats while the drones circled overhead: “You aren't just responsible for your own life, but for the life of the entire crew,” she says.
Oksana works side-by-side with her husband in the same unit: “He is my life,” she says, adding that working together allows them to support each other when the emotional weight becomes too much to bear.
Despite the fear that "scales up" with every work mission, Oksana remains a pillar of strength for her two adult sons and the local residents who wait for her "little flame" of gas to return to their homes.
For Oksana, the responsibility goes beyond infrastructure. Restoring gas supplies often means restoring a sense of normal life, especially in winter, when entire communities depend on it for heating.
“People wait for that small flame in their homes,” she says. “Sometimes they have no electricity either. They light fires, make tea for us, bring whatever they have, just to support us while we work.”
The United Nations Development Programme and the Government of Norway have been a vital partner in supporting the residents of these frontline territories. Oksana notes that the region has relied on consistent humanitarian aid facilitated by the international community.
For Oksana, these efforts are part of a broader system that helps communities endure: “I am grateful to everyone who supports the people here,” she says. Still, her own hopes are simple. Like many Ukrainians living through the war, she dreams of something that once felt ordinary.
“To rest,” she says. “To travel again. To see the sea, go to the mountains, visit museums and theatres. To spend time with family.”
But until then, she continues her work, keeping the line of life open.
