Troops defend utility plants as conflict in Ukraine continues

Russian troops guard an entrance of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station, a run-of-the-river power plant on the Dnieper River in Kherson region, southern Ukraine (AP)

As the fighting in eastern Ukraine inches forward, Russian attacks are knocking out power, water and gas to entire towns and cities and the utility crews sent to repair the smashed transmission lines and pipes are finding themselves in the middle of the shelling.

Crews sometimes arrive at a location only to be forced to retreat because of the fighting, officials say.