“First operation of its kind”: Ukraine claims “fire control” over occupied Donetsk Airport deep behind frontline

Ukraine’s 1st Separate Unmanned Systems Center (14th Regiment) says it has brought Donetsk Airport under “fire control” in what it described as the “first operation of its kind in modern history”, claiming sustained drone strikes have rendered the site unusable for Russian forces.

The unit said the airport, once heavily fortified and now in Russian hands, has been turned into a logistics hub and a launch site for strike drones, including Shahed-type systems used against Ukrainian territory.

Drone strikes target launch systems and air defense units 

According to the statement, Ukrainian operators have been targeting launch systems, transport vehicles, and personnel directly on the airfield, alongside strikes on mobile fire groups and air defense units operating in the area.

The unit said it is also targeting engineering equipment, fuel trucks, and storage sites, aiming to disrupt what it called the “aerodrome ecosystem” and degrade the airport’s operational capacity.

“In effect, we are destroying the infrastructure that makes the airfield function,” the unit said, adding that strikes have hit drone launch systems, construction equipment, vehicles, and warehouses.

‘Asymmetric operation’ against Russian rear base use 

A commander involved in planning the operation, Serafim “Falko” Hordiienko, said the operation represented an “asymmetric” approach.

“Fire control over Donetsk Airport… is an example of an asymmetric operation in which relatively small forces disrupted the enemy’s operational-strategic plans,” he said.

He added that Russian forces had previously treated the site as a secure rear area used to prepare attacks on Ukrainian cities.

Occupied since 2014, once a key Donbas battlefield

Donetsk has been under Russian occupation since 2014, when Russian forces seized parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region at the start of the war in the Donbas. The airport itself became one of the early symbols of fighting during the conflict and has remained outside Ukrainian control since.

“Not long ago, the occupiers felt safe there and were planning terrorist attacks on our cities. From now on, we have turned Donetsk Airport into a trap for the enemy,” the statement said.

“The occupiers do not have a safe rear,” the statement concludes.