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In memoriam: The Defense of Donetsk Airport (25 May 2014 – 22 January 2015)

byYuri Zoria
27/05/2017
2 minute read
The new terminal of Donetsk Airport in 2012 and in January 2015. Collage: twitter balticfrequency
In memoriam: The Defense of Donetsk Airport (25 May 2014 – 22 January 2015)
The defense of Donetsk Airport lasted for 242 days from 26 May 2014 to 22 January 2015. All buildings that could be used as strongholds for the Ukrainian soldiers were completely destroyed during the battle. By the end of the battle, the airport looked like Stalingrad during World War Two or like “the rubble-strewn moonscape.” The airport defenders were called “cyborgs” by both supporters and foes because the soldiers somehow managed to withstand wave after wave of massive attacks. The cyborgs withstood; the concrete didn’t.

On 25 May 2014 Ukrainian airborne troops landed on the runway of Donetsk Airport and took control of the perimeter and control towers.

Overnight into 26 May 2014, an employee of the Ukraine’s Security Service let Russian armed troops into the Donetsk International Airport:

Russian-hybrid forces captured the terminal buildings of the Airport and demanded the withdrawal of government forces from the area.

The last plane took off from Donetsk at 07:10 on 26 May 2014.

Later on 26 May the first battle took place in Donetsk International Airport. Ukrainian paratroopers launched an assault on the airport, the air force was used to destroy anti-aircraft guns and trucks with reinforcements heading towards the airport.

In the evening of May 26, Ukrainian armed forces took full control of the airport to hold in long 242 days, longer than the duration of the defense of most “hero cities” of the USSR during WWII, like Stalingrad.

Sporadic skirmishes and attacks lasted until September 2014, when clashes intensified and Russian-hybrid forces started to massively use heavy artillery, multiple rocket launchers, tanks, self-propelled guns.

Read more: Meet Ukraine’s legend: the cyborgs defending Donetsk airport

Everyday intense bombardments accompanied unceasing attacks of the Russian infantry and special forces during four months.

First days of the battle:

A May 2012 photo shows the control tower of the airport in Donetsk, 52 m, the highest in Ukraine. Photo: facty.ua
A May 2012 photo shows the control tower of the airport in Donetsk, 52 m, the highest in Ukraine. Photo: facty.ua

 

A Ukrainian national flag flies at top of a badly damaged traffic control tower as smoke rises after shelling at the airport on October 12, 2014.
A Ukrainian national flag flies at top of a badly damaged traffic control tower as smoke rises after shelling at the Donetsk airport on October 12, 2014. Photo: Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters, via theatlantic.com

 

Donetsk Airport: This photo taken by a drone on January 15, 2015 shows the destroyed control tower surrounded by craters and debris at the airport in Donetsk. Photo: ArmySOS, via theatlantic.com
This photo taken by a drone on January 15, 2015 shows the destroyed control tower surrounded by craters and debris at the airport in Donetsk. Photo: ArmySOS, via theatlantic.com

 

Collapsed airport buildings. January 2015, Donetsk. Photo: Army.SOS
Collapsed airport buildings. January 2015, Donetsk. Photo: Army.SOS
The Russian MLRS BM-21 Grad shells Donetsk Airport in September 2014.

 

Ukrainian military unloading provisions near the new terminal. Photo: Sergey Loiko
Ukrainian military unloading provisions near the new terminal amid the Donetsk Airport battle. Photo: Sergey Loiko
Ukrainian artillery supported troops holding the airport.

 

airport donetsk
21-year-old ‘cyborg’ Vlad Kazarin, resident of Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast defending Donetsk Airport in 2014. Vlad was killed by a mortar shell in 2016 at Svitlodarsk Bulge. Photo: twitter kazarin13

 

A tank of Russian-hybrid forces shells Ukraine strongholds in Donetsk Airport. Winter 2015.
'Cyborg' Ivan Trembovetskyi in the old terminal of Donetsk Airport. Photo: focus.ua
‘Cyborg’ Ivan Trembovetskyi with his brothers in arms in the old terminal of Donetsk Airport. Photo: focus.ua

 

The Ukrainian soldiers who repelled intense daily gunfire and artillery attacks became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance, the opposing combined Russian forces labeled the Ukrainian troops “cyborgs” due to their superhuman resilience.

The Cyborgs.
Multiple launch rocket system by Russian-hybrid forces attacking Donetsk Airport from a residential area of western Donetsk. January 2015.

When the Russian hybrid forces finally captured the airport, it was a “pile of rubble,” all buildings were ruined, the cratered runway was littered with the wreckage of war.

Donetsk International Airport in 2017

Remnants of military equipment can be still found near the ruined buildings of the airport.

As of 2017, ruined constructions of the Russian-held airport are used a tank depot and artillery position to attack villages of Pisky and Opytne.

Infographic of the Battle of Donetsk Airport (2014-2015)

Infographic: uacrisis.org
Infographic: uacrisis.org

Post scriptum

In March 2014, Donetsk Philharmonic Orchestra participated in all-Ukraine flashmob, having performed Beethoven’s Ode to Joy at Donetsk International Airport. Other Ukrainian orchesters played the same perfomances in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro.

Two months later the war came to Donetsk Airport. Months later it ceased to exist.

'Cyborgs' drawing by TGalexTG at DeviantArt, the Russian-language text added later reads, "The cyborgs withstood; the concrete didn't."
‘Cyborgs’ drawing by TGalexTG at DeviantArt, the Russian-language text added in 2015 reads, “The cyborgs withstood; the concrete didn’t,” referring to the last battle for the new terminal, when Russian-hybrid troops laid explosives and blew up the ceiling and the base of the second floor, causing it to collapse onto the airport defenders who held the first floor on 20 January 2015. This was the turning point of the battle, by the next day Ukrainian forces were either captured, killed, or were forced to withdraw from the building.

Read also:

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