Ukrainian power grid executive dies while supervising repairs at damaged facility

KYIV, Jan 21 (Reuters) – A senior executive from Ukraine’s state grid operator Ukrenergo died while supervising repairs at a power facility damaged by a Russian strike, the company said on Wednesday.

The company did not say how Oleksiy Brekht died, only describing it as “a tragic death”. Evropeiska Pravda, a local media outlet, reported, citing unnamed sources, that Brekht had died from an electric shock at one of the company’s substations.

“Death caught up with him where he felt it was necessary to be in order to restore light to people as quickly as possible,” the company said in its statement on social media.

Ukrenergo did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the cause of Brekht’s death.

Brekht, an executive who temporarily served as the head of the company last year, was 47, Ukrenergo said.

Electrical engineers have been working round the clock in hazardous conditions for weeks after Russia escalated attacks on Ukraine’s grid during an extreme cold snap, leaving hundreds of thousands across the country without power and heating for days.

(Reporting by Max Hunder;Editing by Alison Williams)