In the Bosnian town of Gorazde, there was no electricity during the wartime siege, so residents were forced to improvise. Today, they are sharing their innovations with the people of Ukraine.
In their struggle to survive, the inhabitants of Gorazhde had to become creative.
For example, they built a bridge under another bridge in order to cross safely from one side of the river to the other.
And one of their innovative ideas was the establishment of "small power stations", foreign media write, Telegraph reports.
Aziz Lepenica, a retired professor at the "Dzemal Bijedic" Vocational High School in Gorazhde, was one of the people working in the construction.
"We improvised with many things to create the 'power plants'. There was not much material, we did it in the workshops we built, we looked for material in construction sites, broken cars, removed parts, engines, from the machines and assembled the stations", he explained.
It worked and residents used electricity to run machines and other equipment.
However, it was extremely dangerous.
"There were some who gave their lives. The Drina River is huge, water levels can rise, cables connect to the 'hydro plant' and if it breaks, then everything is destroyed. It was dangerous, but we endured it all," he recalled.
Work in the 'power plants' would be done at night because "there was shooting during the day", he said, explaining that those working in them would use flashlights.
"We worked as one. We had a lot of initiative to have electricity and to listen to some news, music and such", he said.
The new Prime Minister of Boshnjak-Podrinje Canton, Edin Culov, also took part in the construction of 'electrical stations' during the war.
He shared his experience and explained how the heroic act of the citizens of Gorazhda is now turning into a good deed for the world.
Culov said he had been contacted by the European Union and had drawn up a project aimed at helping the people of Ukraine.
So he is sending sketches, drawings and video footage to Ukraine so they too can build 'hydroelectric plants' on their rivers.
"Our friends, well-intentioned people mainly from Gorazhde, who work in international organizations, came up with the idea that the first project should be our canton to help the people of Ukraine," Culov said, adding that Ukrainians are now in a similar situation in which the inhabitants of Gorazhda were during the war in Bosnia.
He remembered what it was like to work in those 'hydro plants'.
"Now imagine being without electricity during the longest nights of December, no light, you can't read anything, you can't see anything, there are no street lights. It is inconceivable. It's hard to describe to someone who hasn't experienced it," he said.
Culov recalled a special night in 1993/94.
"People were preparing for the new year as best they could... Preparations were made for them to enjoy the new year, to have televisions. However, then it rained a lot, the weather was bad and suddenly the Drina swelled and more than half of the 'hydropower plants' were destroyed," he said.
The citizens of Gorazhde also built an improvised armored van, "OPRES", which was used to transport the wounded, doctors or medicines.
Replicas of an armored vehicle and a "hydro power plant" made by the students and teachers of the vocational high school "Dzemal Bijedic" were placed in the city to mark Gorazhde Day.
Those who created them will now send the projects and copies to Ukraine.
"The prime minister invited us this year to create a project that will be sent to Ukraine through the EU. We have five mechanical engineers and our mechanical engineering students work alongside the professors on all these projects. The professors make sketches and the students implement them," said Sedin Hadzimusic, the school's director. /Telegraph/