The name "Cyborgs" came from enemies who couldn't believe humans could endure such assaults
Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, honored the defenders of Donetsk Airport on 20 January—the day Ukraine commemorates soldiers who held the strategic facility for 242 days against Russian and proxy forces.
The defense ran from 26 May 2014 to 22 January 2015. It figures among the first major battles of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
"They held the defense then, we hold it now," wrote Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, on Telegram. "The 242 days of heroic defense became a symbol of the indomitable Ukrainian spirit."
Who were the "Cyborgs" and why the name?
The nickname “Cyborgs” emerged during the 2014 defense of Donetsk Airport, after Russian-backed forces collapsed the terminal with explosives.
The phrase “Cyborgs withstood; the concrete didn't” spread as Ukrainian defenders held their positions through eight months of relentless assault.
For the Cyborgs' Russian and pro-Russian opponents, their resistance appeared almost inhuman.
In September 2014, a pro-Russian militant tried to explain why his forces could not defeat a small group of Ukrainians. He claimed they were not fighting soldiers, but “cyborgs.”
The militants couldn't comprehend how soldiers survived sub-zero temperatures, constant artillery fire, scarce food and water, and crumbling concrete. Ukrainian dictionary "Myslovo" recognized "cyborgs" as the word of 2014.
The battle
Donetsk International Airport was the last Ukrainian-held position in the city after the surrounding area fell under occupation. Ukrainian troops seized it on 26 May 2014; fighting intensified after the Minsk Protocol ceasefire in September, with violations beginning almost immediately.
The control tower collapsed on 13 January 2015. On 20 January, Russian-backed forces detonated explosives that buried defenders beneath rubble. 96 Ukrainian soldiers died; over 290 were wounded.
The Cyborgs' enduring legacy
The Cyborgs have since become embedded in Ukrainian national identity. The National Bank of Ukraine launched a ₴10 commemorative coin series in 2018—the Cyborgs coin was the first in the "Armed Forces of Ukraine" series.
The 2017 film Cyborgs: Heroes Never Die set a box-office record for Ukrainian cinema. Over 210,000 Ukrainians watched it in its first week, grossing 22.2 million hryvnias ($800,000) at the box office.
Ukrainians continue to draw parallels between the Cyborgs and the country's present-day defenders. The Ukrainian Institute, a government organization dedicated to informing international audiences of Ukraine's culture, stated that "The [Mariupol] plant and its 'steel defenders', like the Donetsk airport and its cyborgs, have forever become a symbol of indomitable Ukrainian prowess."
