Assault on the airport on May 26. The battle for Donetsk airport - myths and reality. Battle for Donetsk airport. Unknown details of the most tragic special operation of the ATO
After 242 days of defense, the last Ukrainian fighters left Donetsk airport January 21, 2015 Photo: EPA/UPG
242 days. About a thousand fighters. Dozens of wounded and killed Ukrainian soldiers. Donetsk airport, DAP, became a symbol of resilience, and its defenders began to be called cyborgs for holding the line surrounded by the enemy for many months, in heat and cold, sometimes without water and food, relying on willpower and adrenaline.
During one of the trips to the ATO zone, the Apostrophe correspondent managed to look at the remains of the airport from Zenit, the extreme position of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. From a shelter on one of the hills, the remains of a once beautiful airport could be seen behind the haze. The shell of the terminal with the tattered walls hanging on it was as ghostly as this haze. It seemed that at the first noticeable gust of wind the frame would begin to collapse like a house of cards.
The last defenders of the ATO forces left the DAP on January 21, 2015. Shortly before this, on January 13, the control tower, the “eyes” of Ukrainian military personnel, collapsed. After this, many servicemen who were in the DAP believe, holding the defense became pointless. But some remained there until the very end, and for some, the airport became a grave after the separatists blew up the ceilings in the new terminal. Others who survived the heat of battle still have difficulty coping with post-traumatic syndrome and refuse interviews for fear of falling back into binge drinking.
But there are also those who are ready to talk. They told Apostrophe about how the longest and most brutal battle of this war began, how the runway was watered with Grads, and shells bounced off the solid concrete like ping-pong balls, how they fought off attacks and tried to save their wounded comrades, how they literally crawled out of the destroyed terminal with broken legs, miraculously emerging from the rubble on the last day, when they had to retreat and leave the remains of the airport behind.
Story 1. From Donetsk - with love and celox
Small and thin Natalya is one of those Donetsk volunteers who rushed to help the Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters in the DAP and carried cargo for them directly from Donetsk, when Russian soldiers were already walking on the streets of the city, and armed “persons of Caucasian nationality” were preparing to storm the terminals.
Natalya soon took her family away from Donetsk, but may return there, so for security reasons her last name is not indicated here. She ended up in the DAP when no one suspected that heavy fighting lay ahead, as a result of which the entire airport would turn into ruins. Now it’s hard to imagine that the Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers received help directly from Donetsk, and that it was carried by desperate volunteers through separatist checkpoints.
Volunteer Natalia
It seems that on May 3, I went with my child to the DAP (we held a flash mob - a performance of “Ode to Joy”), there were already military men there, but I didn’t really understand that these were no longer DAP employees, not border guards, but special forces who were guarding the airport. On May 3 everything was still intact. On one side of the city, for example, in Auchan, Russian soldiers were walking, and in Metro, near the DAP, they were buying our dumplings.
Then the old terminal was completely intact and empty. I was sure that hundreds of special forces were somewhere in the basements. But then we found out that in fact there are a little more than 20 soldiers in the DAP from the 3rd Special Forces Regiment (whose commander I met by phone, and we kept in touch), and in the new terminal there are several dozen soldiers of the 72nd Brigade.
We had a secret group in Donetsk, several dozen people. We started collecting funds for radios for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Then we were asked to help with water for the guys who were standing at the Zenit position; they were blocked, and it was only possible to get there from Donetsk through 2-3 checkpoints. I gathered several people I barely knew, and we went to Zenit. Once we met with the guys from DAP, who arrived through a mined field at Zenit, unloaded almost everything we brought - water, bread and a lot of fresh vegetables. At this meeting, my phone number was given to the soldiers from the airport. I remember that their relatives sent Kevlar helmets and various things to Donetsk by Nova Poshta.
In the 20th of May, bearded militants arrived in Donetsk, so they immediately decided that they had to go into battle - they were sent to the DAP, as to the nearest point where there were Ukrainian military personnel.
Dozens of foreign journalists worked in Donetsk, while my daughter was dancing in that area, I escorted the French and someone else closer to the DAP. On May 26 there was an attack on ours, they repulsed it without losses. Trucks with wounded and survivors were speeding away from the DAP at full speed. The Ukrainian Armed Forces called in aviation for reinforcements, and fighter jets flew over the city for three days. The separatists tried to shoot them down. There was a continuous roar.
Then the day was like a month, so I won’t say exactly how long we were transmitting parcels like this, but in the end the commander insisted that the anti-aircraft gunners bring us to the DAP, this was at the end of June - beginning of July. In general, we were definitely the first to get there (after the start of active hostilities): we were riding in an anti-aircraft gun, with machine guns and body armor, just like the military. We were accompanied by a car with the word "Airport" written on it, and on the checkerboard there was a Darth Vader mask. It turned out that the military was joking: they found and put this mask on the car, but the driver did not notice and drove like that for several days.
From Donetsk we began to transmit (to the Ukrainian Armed Forces) all information about the movement of equipment. We rode around the city, closer to the waste heaps, and hooked a phone to the sun visor, which filmed everything. In general, we became strong friends. We watched as the commander, practically with one glance, placed his guys in positions. The military from Zenit also began to go to the DAP, where they were taught a lot, and both of these positions became a powerful cover for each other. We carried night vision devices, tactical goggles, batteries, celox, the first tablets with maps and sights, sleeping bags and sleeping mats, food, and once we even brought a Georgian who cooked barbecue for the military.
They carried the plates to the armor plates under the car seat, and wrapped the covers in hammocks. I hid my glasses in my sleeping bags. Then I went with a kind-looking uncle, his name was Konstantin. I met him during secret meetings related to the organization of rallies in Donetsk. I remembered him when I had to go on my first trip. And I was not mistaken - they always let us through and did not check us.
At the checkpoints in this direction there were then locals, we had a legend for them - in Opytny we either have a recreation center for fishermen, or we accept refugees there. A night vision device was once transported in a bag of chicken feed. It seemed like they were going to visit grandma. And soon we got a car with a double bottom. Our “fairy tales” passed. But then one day we were driving through Donetsk, we stopped, I went to the supermarket, and the separatists took the car.
Somehow no help was delivered - the day before the railway bridge was destroyed. But we didn’t know how much so we went to him so that we could pass through at least one less checkpoint. There, for the first time, a sniper started shooting at us. We put the car in reverse and sped away. That day we returned to the city, and the next day we went again, but in a completely different car.
Natalya (left) during a trip to Opytnoye and Peski (Donetsk region)
The problem of the first "Dapists" was that they were in almost complete confinement in a closed space for about 4-5 months. The special forces somehow dealt with this, but the 72nd did much worse. When I first met them, I was afraid to even move. They were ready to shoot us as saboteurs. The guys were clearly going crazy.
I remember the refrigerators in which the bodies of two of our dead were stored until it was possible to take them out. I remember the plan for the parade in DAP on August 24, 2014. It never took place - the commander found out about the guys who had previously survived in the DAP who died at Saur-Mogila, and he was taken to the hospital. My heart couldn't stand it.
The beginning of September was very difficult, the guys said goodbye every day. We transferred a lot of medicine through the reconnaissance commander of the 93rd brigade. By the end of autumn and beginning of winter, we were at the airport several more times. Then they were already carrying warm boots, uniforms, sleeping bags, camping burners and cylinders.
The last time I was in DAP was at the beginning of December 2014, running, military vehicle, from which they only managed to look out for a couple of minutes and be horrified by the ruins. December 2014 was quite quiet, but in the old terminal there were separatists moving along the elevator shaft. They were already there and on the top floor.
For me, DAP is, first of all, the people who were there, many of whom became family. Some friends died there, one of them was a volunteer.
Airport like local residents, was our great hope. Every morning began with calls and news about him. The DAP defenders and I had a common dream - for the war to end and to be able to return home.
Story 2. Building the country that the dead dreamed of
Vitaly Gorkun fought as part of the 79th airmobile brigade. On September 25, 2014, he went on vacation for 10 days. At that time, the first company occupied the line in Sands - the soldiers spent the night in Sands and at about 5 am they began to enter the DAP. Two armored personnel carriers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were shot down, killing 13 people. On September 26, Vitaly’s birthday, his commander called him and said that his vacation was ending because they would be entering the DAP. Vitaly returned to the unit and already on October 2 his unit was at the airport. Apart from shell shock, he had no injuries - he was lucky.
Today Vitaly Gorkun is the head of the Mariupol Patrol Police.
Vitaly Gorkun (left)
I went with my platoon to the old terminal, we were there for 10 days, after which we left and began escorting, delivering ammunition and water to Peski.
On November 7, my company returned to the old terminal for another 10 days. Then our brigade was withdrawn from the ATO to the Zaporozhye region, closer to Mariupol. We had a lot of wounded; about 80 people remained from the battalion. At that time, the Shirokino operation had already begun. Near Mariupol we met New Year. After that, we were transferred to Nikolaev to restore combat effectiveness. When the terminal was blown up in January, we were put on alert and rushed to the airport.
There were two attempts to get us there by plane, but when that didn’t work out, we went by bus to Solntsevo and from there moved on to Vodyanoye.
What I remember most during my rotations at DAP was Putin’s birthday – October 7th. From October 4 to October 6, there were continuous battles for two days, infantry marched, tanks came out. When we first arrived, they immediately began to cover us, everything they had worked against us, and our armored personnel carriers burned down after they knocked out our tank. So on October 4 there were a lot of wounded, because the (enemy) tank rolled out and fired directly at us. And at dawn I realized how difficult it would be, because at night nothing was visible. In the first two days, we had two people in the 200s, and 17 people in the 300s; there was a moment when we thought that we were screwed here. But on October 6 we knocked out their tank.
Back in October, the airport was of strategic importance, but then there was no point in sitting and defending in one room, which was subjected to tank and artillery shelling every day.
Those lives that the DAP later took, I think, should have been saved and used elsewhere, to act more decisively, not in a targeted and local way, but in a front-line manner. Maybe try to close the ring along the border, although, of course, I’m not a general. Probably the generals were simply afraid to report on the real picture of what was happening around us. The DAP was surrounded, every convoy (AFU) that entered there was under fire.
It wasn’t so scary to sit there as to drive in and out, it’s three kilometers of road that is constantly under fire, and it was a lottery - whether you’ll get hit or not. And considering that in one armored personnel carrier or infantry fighting vehicle there were 12 people in the airborne squad, even if one grenade had hit, everyone would have burned alive, because no one would have been able to get out of there quickly.
I personally had four such raids - when they entered the DAP and left it. And the mechanics, drivers, machine gun gunners - they drove along this route every day or every other day. They took out ammunition and the wounded.
We got used to it psychologically, of course. During the war I realized that we get used to everything. In the cold, damp, without water, we sat for ten days - and there was nothing terrible, and we didn’t want to eat. We probably don’t know our capabilities ourselves. To say that there were professional military men there is no, we all gained the same experience. It’s one thing to learn war from books, and quite another to lead and give orders, as a result of which the guys could die. We studied shoulder to shoulder.
The war will end for us when we liberate our territories and build a high moor throughout the eastern cordon. How long this will last depends on how we ourselves treat the situation in the country.
Vitaly Gorkun (left), in the photo on the right - Vitaly at Donetsk airport
Now I head the Patrol Police in Mariupol. In war, you understood who the enemy was. And here we come across people who want changes, but, let’s say, they break the rules on the roads, and if you make a remark, they will say - it would be better if you went to war.
Some people think that the boys there are dying for territory, others think: let Poroshenko sell Roshen, then I will drive by the rules. I always say that everyone should start with themselves. It so happened that our generation experienced such events, but also a chance to build a normal society where money will not decide everything. Many are used to it, do not want to give up their comfort zone and are not ready to sacrifice it, but someone gave their life. If my hands give up, then I will betray all those who gave their lives. I had an acquaintance, Bogdan, who died. When I arrived at his home in the Lviv region, his mother said - you survived, guys, to build the country that Bogdan dreamed of. I will fight to the end now that I am back.
Story 3. Two Hour War
Alexey Sokolovsky volunteered for the Donbass battalion at the end of August 2014. He spent most of the time until January 2015 at the training ground in the village of Cherkasskoye (Dnipropetrovsk region), was a reservist, and on November 5, 2014, he signed a contract with the Ukrainian Armed Forces and went to serve as part of the 93rd separate mechanized brigade (OMBR).
For Sokolovsky, the war began and ended on January 17, 2015. In the first battle he received a mine-shrapnel wound. Last September, doctors gave up trying to repair the ankle joint and removed it completely. In the next five months, Alexey will have to spend time with the Ilizarov apparatus, which fixes the bones in the correct position. “Unfortunately, I’m still recovering,” he tells Apostrophe. His war only lasted a couple of hours. However, he says he has no regrets.
Alexey Sokolovsky
We arrived in the ATO zone on January 13, 2015. I was an assistant machine gunner for my cousin, Alexander. And on January 17, the assault on the monastery on the territory of the Donetsk airport began with the goal of breaking through a corridor for the withdrawal of fighters from the terminal. During this assault, two of our infantry fighting vehicles were lost in the fog, and communication was lost. There was heavy shelling, the vehicles stalled, the gun on one BMP was jammed, and the turret on another was jammed. Then we managed to start the cars, but after about thirty meters our group was hit by several 120-mm mines, and movement became impossible.
I was wounded by mine fragments in the abdomen and right shin. Then 26 people were wounded, 15 in our group alone; two died. All these guys started with the Donbass battalion in August-September 2014.
Brother Alexander also received severe mine-shrapnel wounds to his limbs that day.
We were there (in the DAP area) for about half an hour, it was my first and last fight. I remember when I was wounded and the cartridges ran out, I picked up a grenade. There were different thoughts, the main one was not to be captured. But, in the end, their own people arrived and pulled us out.
Alexey Sokolovsky
Yes, it turns out I didn’t have time to fight. But I don't regret it. During our offensive, more than 80 people were taken out of DAP. After being wounded, my brother ended up in Selidovo, then in the Dnieper and Odessa. I went to Krasnoarmeysk, then also to the Dnieper, and then to Kyiv.
When I hear about the DAP, I remember first of all our soldiers who died there. The war has actually lasted three years. I don’t have a question about whether it was worth dying there, but I constantly hear this question from others, for some reason from those who have not been there and never will be. I would go this route again. If there was an opportunity, I would go back, but it would be uncomfortable with the Ilizarov apparatus and on crutches, and they wouldn’t take me.
Whether it was worth the children dying there will be shown by the development of our country.
Story 4. Surviving cyborgs
Evgeniy Kovtun served in the 93rd Separate Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces as an artillery fire spotter, and was in the DAP from January 6, 2015 to the 20th. With a group, leaving behind the destroyed terminal, he made his way to the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the night of January 21.
After the ceilings of the new terminal were blown up, Evgeniy found himself under the rubble, fortunately, his comrades were able to get him. He was lucky more than once later - under the cover of fog, the group made its way to the weather tower, which was controlled by the Ukrainian military. Eugene, exhausted due to wounds, insomnia, thirst and hunger, fell behind, but his comrade returned for him and led him to his own. Yevgeny Kovtun was among the last surviving “cyborgs” of the Donetsk airport. “I’m currently undergoing maintenance,” he jokes in a conversation with Apostrophe. Treatment for the wounds and concussions received will still take a lot of time.
Evgeniy Kovtun
We have been in Peski since the end of autumn, holding the defense there. We had a rotation: one company was in Peski, another was holding the defense in DAP, another company controlled nearby territories.
Our first day at DAP was quite calm, there was the so-called green corridor, day of silence. Heavy fighting began on the 10th.
When I got to DAP, the only thing I thought about was how to keep warm. There was a small diesel burner, it served us for a couple of days. There was a small potbelly stove that provided some heat, but the separatists hit it with an RPG.
Before the ceilings were blown up, I was wounded, and the terminal explosion also added to it.
It was hard there all the time. I remember that on January 9, a paratrooper was seriously wounded, and we could not take him out, because this supposed truce with the green corridors meant that once a week, by agreement, equipment entered the airport, the guys went on rotation. And here the person needs to be urgently evacuated, and here new agreements are needed. And he died before our eyes. In the end, they allowed him to be taken to the enemy checkpoint, where an ambulance was waiting. But the fighter did not survive.
The guys fought, it was important for them to know that if something happened, they would be picked up, saved, and taken to the hospital. It is right for soldiers to believe in such things. And then it turned out that we couldn’t do anything. The medic could only maintain a seriously wounded man in this condition and fought for his life...
I remember the gas attacks. In this war, probably, no one has ever been smoked out like we were. Both those who were intact and the wounded. You couldn't go outside. During my stay in DAP there were gas attacks six times; they hounded us for hours as soon as the wind blew in a way that suited them. The temperature was minus, the air was almost still, and they could throw these action gas grenades one after another. We were choking, coughing, and our eyes were watering.
I am still undergoing treatment, and I had concussions, and on the 17th I was also wounded. Three ribs were broken, but I was still in fairly normal condition, all my body parts remained with me.
The first explosion was on January 19, he knocked down all the walls for us. After this there was a heavy attack, which we repulsed. We were already squeezed, surrounded. The next day they blew it up a second time, the floor was underneath us, and we actually fell to the floor below, we were buried in the upper floors. There were paratroopers, guys from the 90th Battalion, they helped get those who were overwhelmed, they got me too.
The command and I could not really communicate; there had been no communication for several days; they could not get through to us for the wounded.
We still had some ammunition left, so we decided in a group of about 13 people to make our way to our own. They asked if I would go. After the rubble, I no longer stood, I lay down. They helped me up, threw me over the parapet, I realized that if I fell, I wouldn’t get up. It took us a long time to get out, but we reached the weather tower. Our people had already evacuated us there.
A couple of people were left wounded and dead.
One of our group didn't make it. He and I are far behind. One fighter came back for me. The fog was heavy. He saved us. But the second one was never found; he was later taken prisoner. But then, fortunately, they released me. It was he who woke me up, helped me throw me over the parapet and told me that I had to leave.
Evgeniy Kovtun
When we got out to our people, the first thought was to drink. Before this there were severe Epiphany frosts, everything was frozen, all the water bottles. And even this ice then ended. We didn’t sleep for many days, without water, without food, so to already have liquid water was such a blessing. The guys brought us water every now and then, but we couldn’t get drunk.
And we urgently had to find a phone to tell our relatives that we were still alive, that we were fighting. The guys let us sleep for a couple of hours, then transferred us to Vodyanoye, where an ambulance was waiting.
We didn’t know then whether they would storm the tower. All we knew was that the terminal had fallen early in the morning. A group went for the wounded, Rahman went, but this help never arrived, they were waiting for them, the rest were already captured (the cyborg Rahman was later exchanged - “Apostrophe”).
The situation that led to this was in itself deplorable. I wish it were not us, but us who took them like that. Since January 13, after the control tower fell, there was nothing to do there. But no one wanted to make a decision and understand that the era of the airport had to end, since it had lost its strategic importance. The tower fell and we went blind. We had weapons and ammunition back then; we would have come out, even with a fight, but we would not have lost the people who were blown up. And the rest would not have been taken prisoner.
But maybe the heroism of some is the shortcoming of others.
Yana SedovaFound an error - highlight and click Ctrl+Enter
At the beginning of the conflict in the South-East of Ukraine, when regional police departments were captured practically without resistance, not a single militiaman entered the airports in Kramatorsk, Mariupol, Donetsk, or Lugansk.
The runways and the infrastructure attached to them were recognized as strategic objects and were guarded, and then defended very seriously. It was believed that if the new republics had at least one airport, one or two abandoned Ukrainian attack aircraft would immediately be found there and the militias would have their own air force. Therefore, Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, Konstantinovka and Druzhkovka were under the rule of Igor Strelkov’s units for more than two months, but the Kramatorsk airport was controlled by the Ukrainian army all the time and all attempts at assault were repulsed. The same can be said about Lugansk airport, from where Ukrainian units were driven out quite recently.
But the confrontation around Donetsk airport stands apart. The airport was guarded throughout the spring by the most combat-ready and patriotic unit of the Ukrainian army. The governor of Taruta at that time complained that he had elite special forces in Donetsk, but no one would allow them to be used. It was quite easy to find out that a company of the Kirovograd special forces regiment, one of the “cradles” of the USSR special forces, was sitting at the airport. It was these fighters who defended the airport on May 26, when 50 militiamen were killed during an attempt to seize it (this operation is called the “most disastrous” for the DPR leadership, including those surrounded by Igor Strelkov). It was then that the State Aviation Service suspended the operation of the airport.
You need to understand what Donetsk airport is like. An ultra-modern airport terminal building with a new runway, opened for Euro 2012, is adjacent to the infrastructure of the old Soviet airport with an old building, hotels, underground hangars, two VIP terminals, special hangars under private jets Donetsk oligarchs, also Soviet bomb shelters and other special structures in case of nuclear war. In addition, during this time the airport managed to turn from an outpost of Ukraine into the tip of the spear of the Ukrainian offensive. And all this time, the units at the airport never remained completely surrounded, replenished, rotated, strengthened and supplied. To the left and right, the airport is reinforced by the positions of the army and volunteer battalions in Piski on one side and Avdeevka on the other. This is a super-fortified section of the front line, in the event of the surrender of which, a retreat from Karlovka and Avdeevka, which were once recaptured with such difficulty, may follow.
As the battles progressed, the airport's infrastructure was increasingly destroyed and it was unlikely to be used for its intended purpose for military aircraft.
The fighting has been going on for four months, and so many militiamen have died near the airport, and so many national guard and special forces soldiers have been defended, that it has gradually turned into a symbol. Both for Ukraine and for the DPR.
Meanwhile, according to some analysts, there is another objective reason why the militia is so eager to take the airport, and the Ukrainian security forces are so unwilling to leave it. To paraphrase the classic - “who owns the airport, owns Donetsk.” October 1 has already shown what a threat an airport under the control of the ATO forces can pose: on Knowledge Day, after shelling from that side in the city, 12 civilians were killed. It is impossible to begin to establish a peaceful life and restore the city’s infrastructure while being under constant “gunfire.” The airport is too convenient a point for shelling the neighborhoods of Donetsk. In addition, this is a kind of “black hole” through which sabotage detachments can penetrate into the city.
And here we cannot help but touch upon the complex system of life and communications of the Donetsk airport. The militia has repeatedly said that the military holding the city’s “air gate” is surrounded by a double cordon of DPR fighters. However, for about five months now they have been able to maintain control over the completely blocked area.
It is clear that the airport itself is, as DPR Prime Minister Purgin says: “a city within a city.” There are several terminals with underground floors and numerous warehouses. Even an anti-nuclear bunker left over from Soviet times. In general, there is somewhere to hide from constant shelling. But how, during the supposedly complete blockade, the ATO fighters did not run out of food and ammunition during this time is a question.
They say that military planes dropped “humanitarian aid” to ATO fighters twice: in July and August. But is this enough for the normal functioning of a garrison of several thousand people? Ukrainian media released information that under the Donetsk airport there is supposedly a warehouse of “emergency reserves”: there is food, weapons, and clothing. Airport employees called these reports “nonsense” and explained that according to building codes, there cannot be any warehouses under aviation structures. However, the same employees confirm: from the runway, underground communications go towards the village of Peski, controlled by ATO forces. This is where the forces holding the airport allegedly receive constant supply. It is clear that the militia cannot tolerate such a “Harry Potter closet” near the capital of Donbass. Otherwise there will never be peace in the city.
Original taken from tipaeto to Donetsk Airport. A story of courage and betrayal.
The pride of Donetsk, the “air gate” of the city now looks like a pile of poorly burned street garbage, leaking plastic, smoked aluminum and sluggish smoke. Everything that could burn in the new terminal has already burned.
<Первый раз аэропорт пытались взять еще в апреле, мирно, с помощью безоружного восставшего народа, путем переговоров. На следующий день переговорщики были арестованы на улицах Донецка сотрудниками СБУ. The second assault on May 26 was bloody. The militia lost about 40 fighters. According to military science, the more assaults an object repels, the more difficult it is to take it later. Slavyansk confirmed this axiom. For several months, no one needed the airport - there were enough worries on other fronts. K But the airport still had to be dealt with - for political reasons.
The airport is not even a thorn. This is a big headache that cannot be solved with a simple attack. But it doesn’t seem possible to solve it quickly and efficiently now.
And even now, militias are fighting to the death in the twisted structures, although according to diplomatic papers it should be very quiet here.
The fighting for the Donetsk airport, part of the territory of which continues to be held by a large group of Kyiv security forces, has been going on for five months. On October 3, the DPR militia announced they had taken control of the facility, but fierce fighting on its territory is still ongoing. The militias have repeatedly stated that the Donetsk airport is a point of special strategic importance, not only as a transport hub. >Donetsk Airport named after S.S. Prokofiev
The airfield in the city of Stalino was built on blood. The first bulldozers began to level the area under runway in 1933 - the hungriest year in the history of Ukraine. Even Russian historians who argue about Stalin’s guilt do not deny the very fact of the famine. First passenger aircraft We flew from Donetsk all the way to Starobelsk, a city in the Lugansk region, located 160 km from the airport.
1930s
July 27, 1931 By resolution of the Stalin City Council, the land department and the municipal services department were instructed to determine the territory for the construction of an airfield civil aviation in Stalino.
1933 Stalino airport was founded. In the same year, the first Aeroflot flight was organized on the route Stalino - Starobelsk. X.
Stalin airport. 1930s 
On June 23, 1941, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR approved the “Regulations on the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet (civilian air fleet) on war time" All Civil Air Fleet personnel were drafted into the Red Army. The flight technical personnel became part of the 87th Guards Separate Stalinist Civil Aviation Regiment.
944 After the liberation of Donbass, the airport began work on air transportation of passengers, cargo and the production of aerial chemical works. 1950s In 1952, a squadron of Li-2 heavy aircraft was organized at the airport. In January 1957, a new air terminal designed by architect V. Solovyov, with a capacity of 100 passengers/hour, opened its doors to passengers. In 1961, the Stalino airport (like the city) was renamed Donetsk. Early 1950s 
The rapid development of the airline occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the operation of the An-24, An-10, and Il-18 aircraft began. 
In 1982, until the 1990s, on October 11, 1991, the Donetsk United Aviation Squadron was renamed the Donetsk Aviation Enterprise. In 2003, the enterprise was reorganized by dividing the airline (Donbassaero) and the airport, on the basis of which the Municipal Enterprise “Donetsk International Airport” was formed. In accordance with the program for preparing Donetsk for Euro 2012, in 2011, a Ukrainian construction company began construction of a new airport terminal, the design of which was developed specialists from Croatia. Airport project 
g. Based on the decision of the Donetsk Regional Council dated November 24, 2011 No. 6/7-169, the municipal enterprise “Donetsk International Airport” was named after the famous composer Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev. From that moment on, the airport began to be officially called the Municipal Enterprise “Donetsk International Airport named after S.S. Prokofiev”. On May 14, 2012, a new seven-story terminal with a capacity of 3,100 passengers per hour was opened at Donetsk airport. 
Chronicle of events around Donetsk airport
On April 17, a group of citizens with the flag of Novorossiya came to the airport, as they approached, snipers appeared on the roofs of the terminals, and someone’s private jet took off from the runway. The conversation with the airport authorities did not work out; the SBU officers refused to communicate. It was not possible to resolve the matter peacefully; the airport began to be filled with military personnel, special forces, weapons and ammunition. Donetsk. 26 of May. Airport. Heroism and betrayal.
Based on materials from Anatoly “El Murid”,
. . Initially, our goal was to investigate the operation to seize the Donetsk airport on May 26, 2014, which resulted in the death of about 50 militiamen (not counting the losses of the relief detachments), most of whom were volunteers from Russia. . Russian volunteers. To three groups in Rostov region Volunteers from Crimea and Chechnya were added. The total number of the combined detachment was 120 people. The command of the detachment, at the insistence of “Sergei Ivanovich”, was carried out by former officer Boris Sysenko, who in a critical situation removed himself from command of the detachment. On the night of May 24-25, the combined detachment moved towards Donetsk in 5 KAMAZ vehicles. The detachment was supposed to join the Vostok battalion and come under the command of Khodakovsky. 
Due to the lack of proper counterintelligence cover within the detachment, it is already Russian territory At least one enemy scout entered. It turned out to be, as it turned out later, a fighter with the call sign “Schumacher”. . This man came along with the Crimean militias; he himself, in his words, comes from the Nikolaev region. He said that he did not serve in the military anywhere, but is on the territory of Ukraine under criminal investigation by order of the current Ukrainian government. I applied for the position of driver. Subsequently, in his backpack, which was accidentally opened (after the battle for the airport on May 26), the following characteristic items were found: 1) a walkie-talkie for communication with aviation, 2) an ICOM scanner, 3) an AK magazine, filled with tracers (one of the acceptable ways to “highlight” a target in battle - with tracers), 4) a 32 GB flash drive, on which in electronic format there were special instructions on conducting sabotage operations behind enemy lines, including instructions on adjusting artillery and aviation fire. Details are below. Perhaps he is still one of the “fighters” of the DPR militia and continues to conduct intelligence activities in the interests of the SBU. Close to “Schumacher” was a militiaman with the call sign “Odessa”, who may also be an agent of the SBU. Operation to “capture” the airport. The operation to seize the Donetsk airport was initially a crime because it contradicted the fundamentals of tactical operations. Its organization and planning was carried out by Khodakovsky, who declaratively prioritized the existence of certain informal agreements with representatives of the SBU and the command of a unit of the 3rd Special Forces Regiment (Kirovograd) guarding the airport. He tried his best to convince Boris Sysenko and the group commanders that these “agreements” existed. On the evening of May 25, a group of reconnaissance officers moved to the area of Donetsk airport. “Granit” and “Stary”, on the basis of agreements reached by Khodakovsky, met with the SBU officer who headed the security service international airport. The latter informed them of the situation in the airport area and showed them a diagram of the new terminal. Upon arrival at the headquarters, “Granit” and “Stary” went to a meeting, which was attended by Khodakovsky, Sysenko and other officers. This group of people, while planning an operation to seize a complex infrastructure facility, drank alcoholic beverages. The report of the commanders of the groups that carried out reconnaissance of the area was not heard to the end. The planning of the operation was based on dubious information, the validity of which Khodakovsky tried to convince the commanders. Firstly, he tried to convince everyone that the Kirovograd special forces, located in the area of the airport, due to certain “agreements” reached, would not open fire on the militias. Making the success of an operation dependent on agreements with the enemy is a sign of either betrayal or dementia. Secondly, by order of Khodakovsky, the groups that moved to the airport area did not take with them the MANPADS that were available. As he would later say in an interview with RIA-Novosti, the militias had MANPADS. Without the availability of air defense systems (at least portable ones such as Igla MANPADS), it is impossible to carry out an operation to capture operating airport. At the same time, the seizure of the terminal, which took place on May 26, 2014, could only have a vaguely understandable psychological effect. The militia had only one dummy MANPADS with them at the Donetsk airport. The operation began in the absence of full reconnaissance of the situation and with total misinformation on the part of its organizer. Around 2.00 On May 26, Khodakovsky gave the order to prepare to move part of the detachment to seize the airport. In his words, the main task of the detachment will be to “pose in front of journalists’ cameras,” since a 100% agreement was reached with the Kirovograd residents (3rd Special Forces Regiment) not to fire at each other. Around 3.00 a detachment of approximately 80 people moved to the airport to carry out the assigned task. The fighters partially occupied the building of the new airport terminal. The occupation of the airport terminal building took place without clashes. Around 7.00 Reinforcements moved to the terminal, which included, among other things, volunteers from Chechnya. Around 10.00 Khodakovsky completed negotiations with the command of the Kirovohrad special forces and, together with the fighters of the former Donetsk Alpha, left the airport. Direct command was further exercised by Boris Sysenko. After Khodakovsky’s departure, taking into account the reinforcements that arrived at 7.00, the number of militias occupying the airport was about 120 people. The further actions of the Kirovograd special forces were very different from the “agreements” that were communicated by Khodakovsky to the militia personnel. Ukrainian special forces positions were located in the old airport terminal building and in its surroundings. Without hiding and slowly, the Kirovograd residents began to equip firing positions to fire at the terminal occupied by the militia. We brought up mortars, established positions for the AGS-17 “Flame”, and dispersed the snipers. Soon, PMC fighters were landed on the airport grounds and took up positions in the control tower and the surrounding area of the airport. At about 11.00, the enemy opened fire on the militias that occupied the airport. The air strike was carried out by Mi-24 helicopters and Su-25 attack aircraft, using NURS and automatic guns. PMC snipers opened fire with sniper weapons. In fact, Boris Sysenko, who was assigned to the groups to lead the operation, withdrew from command after realizing what had happened, sending the fighter to the duty-free store to buy alcohol. While the detachment was fighting, he was drinking alcohol, not having the necessary moral and psychological characteristics to organize defense. Instead of the easy capture promised by Khodakovsky, he led the detachment into a trap. Subsequently, the actual leadership of the detachments was carried out by group commanders, who acted for some time at their own discretion. Kirovograd special forces also opened fire with mortars, AGS-17 “Plamya”, machine guns and sniper weapons. Return fire was organized from equipped firing points. For this purpose, ATMs were even torn out and stacked in stacks to protect them from bullets and shrapnel. Then this became the basis for accusing the militia of looting, although the airport had been cleared by the Ukrainian military the day before. Some of the fighters, not knowing that the enemy would soon launch an air strike on the terminal, took up positions on the roof, placed firing points there, and brought up the AGS-17 “Plamya”. 
(Photo. "Gypsy" with AGS and "Mir" on the roof. "Gypsy" will soon receive a slight wound to the head as a result of an air strike on the terminal, but will remain in service. He will die in one of the KAMAZ vehicles during the breakthrough. "Mir" will die during the breakthrough, his body will lie under sniper fire for three days before the militia can take it away. 
When Ukrainian aviation began to attack them, the fighters began to retreat from the roof. The materials used in the construction of the airport, when hit by NURS, shells and mines, produced a huge number of additional destructive elements and provided very poor cover. The roof was strewn with gravel, which also acted as destructive elements when hit by shells. The first losses came from aircraft fire on the militias who had taken positions on the roof. The Chechens took the longest positions, trying to hide behind a smoke screen. This measure did not turn out to be very effective. Soon the detachment's losses amounted to two killed and several (one killed and almost all the wounded were from the Chechen detachment). Some of the existing electronically controlled doors were blocked (even though the power supply to the terminal was not interrupted). As a result, the withdrawal was carried out by creating an “artificial exit”. If everyone could get out at once, there might be fewer wounded. After part of the detachment retreated from the roof, the wounded and dead remained there. The wounded could not be rescued for a long time due to dense sniper fire, which was fired from the control tower. Everyone was pulled out later under heavy fire only on the third attempt. Aviation and artillery fire was very well adjusted. Negotiations between one of the spotters and the mortar gunners were intercepted through the Ukrainian radio that was given as a “gift.” (Photos of control room 1 and 2) 
The distance from the new terminal to the control tower, which dominates in height above all other buildings, was 960 meters. Despite the considerable distance, the sniper fire was very accurate. It was fired from a sniper weapon with a caliber of at least 12.7 mm (most likely an M-82 Barrett or similar rifles). To do this, the dense fire of PMC snipers had to be suppressed with something. Of the heavy weapons, the detachment had only one 82-mm mortar and one AGS-17 “Flame”, which was lowered from the roof. The mines attached to the mortar did not have fuses (!!!), and therefore turned the much-needed means of fire support into a pile of iron. The militia had to work on the control tower from the AGS-17 “Flame”. The maximum firing range of an easel grenade launcher is 1700 m, but the aiming range is much less. The fire on the tower had to be adjusted for a long time from the second floor of the terminal until the first hits, which weakened the sniper fire. After that, they were able to take the wounded from the roof. At the same time, the Kirovograd residents were verbally ready to provide a corridor for the evacuation of the wounded. PMC snipers fired at both the militias and the Kirovograd special forces. This may have been due to poor coordination between the opponents, perhaps due to agreements reached on the evacuation of the wounded. As a result, the deputy commander of the Kirovograd residents actually gave the order to open fire from the ZU-23 at the control room, from where the snipers were working. One way or another, many militias were wounded by fire from Kirovograd. By this point in time, Donetsk already knew about the failure of the operation. An operation was hastily prepared to release the detachment that had occupied the airport. About 400-500 people took part in it. The main problem remained the lack of coordination and unified command. The fighting in the vicinity of the airport on May 26 was carried out by: 1) the Vostok battalion of Khodakovsky and a detachment of the former Donetsk Alpha, 2) Boroday’s fighters, 3) Zdrilyuk’s detachment, 4) Pushilin’s detachment, 5) Oplot. These units also suffered significant casualties from sniper fire, as well as possibly from friendly fire amid poor coordination. Snipers worked on almost all approaches to the airport: in the area of the METRO store (two mercenaries from the Baltic states were destroyed), from the side of SPARTAK (the sniper was working from a construction crane), from the side of the cemetery and runway, from one of the 9-story buildings on Stratonauts Street. What followed were openly provocative actions. “Iskra” received an order via mobile phone (from someone!!!) to make a breakthrough, since the airport was surrounded by the Ukrainian military. Don’t wait for the night and go out in small groups, but right now, before the “ring” is closed, load onto KAMAZ trucks and go out into the city, taking two killed and a few wounded. They will be provided with a corridor from the Donetsk side. In fact, there was a tight ring of encirclement only around the new terminal. On the territory of the airport, Kirovograd residents continued to fire at the militia, and there were PMC snipers in the vicinity. There were no significant enemy troops that tightly surrounded the airport. The militia were able to dive into only two KAMAZ vehicles; access to the other two was tightly blocked by sniper fire. That’s why KAMAZ trucks were loaded to the brim with people. Only the cover group remained at the airport. She will retreat later along the green line and will not suffer casualties. Around 18.30 two KAMAZ trucks made a breakout from the airport. Having received information that they were surrounded, the KAMAZs walked at full speed, the soldiers fired at everything that moved, and even rested. The initiator of this exit tactic was Iskra. Perhaps this played a tragic role when entering the city. The cover group advanced on foot through the greenery near 19.15-19.20
. She suffered no casualties and returned safely to Donetsk, which is additional evidence that there was no tight encirclement around the airport. When the groups made a “breakthrough”, Boris Sysenko remained in the cover group. He died of a heart attack on the eve of the group's retreat from the airport. Before breaking through into the greenery, the group had to overcome 300 meters under fire from snipers and machine guns. Shooting of KAMAZ vehicles with militias. At the entrance to Donetsk from the airport at that time there were soldiers of the “Vostok” battalion concentrated in an ambush, numbering about 80 people from the 1st and 2nd bases of the battalion (the established name of the units) and other units of the militia. They received information that soldiers of the National Guard of Ukraine were coming from the airport to break into Donetsk. The order was given to fire to kill. Two KAMAZ vehicles with militias leaving the airport were destroyed by soldiers of the Vostok battalion with heavy fire from small arms and grenade launchers. There were no Ukrainian special forces in the ambush; there was an order to open fire on their own soldiers. (Photo. Kamaz Kyiv Prospekt) 
The first KAMAZ was hit and overturned on Kievsky Prospekt near the Magnolia store. There were more survivors in it than in the second. The second KAMAZ was hit on the street. Stratonauts in the area of Putilovsky Bridge. When the KAMAZ was riddled and smashed, and the movement around them stopped, the Vostok fighters crawled closer and saw St. George’s ribbons on the corpses. The driver of the second KAMAZ received numerous wounds and blew himself up with a grenade. The second explosion was carried out by one of the wounded militiamen who remained conscious (he had fought in Afghanistan in the past). They thought that the fire was fired by Ukrainian soldiers. Of the 46 fighters traveling in two KAMAZ vehicles, 35 survived. A few days after the treacherous operation, volunteers from Chechnya left the DPR. Departure. After arriving at the base, the fighters who survived the breakout from the airport discovered strange facts. Personal property, as well as the remaining weapons of the victims, were stolen by the time they returned. AGS-17 “Flame”, traveling in one of the blown up KAMAZ trucks, soon surfaced in Pushilin’s detachment. The realization that they had been betrayed and sent by the command in the person of Khodakovsky to slaughter forced them to disperse throughout the city. Further more. Several fighters, camped on leave on the outskirts of Donetsk, were approached by “Schumacher” and “Odessa” (presumably spies). They checked on the soldiers in a friendly manner and urgently (ostensibly on orders) left for the location of the Vostok battalion. After some time, the attention of the militia was attracted by the crying of children and women’s cries of “Don’t shoot!” from the yard of a neighboring house. Jumping out into the bushes, they saw armed men in camouflage surrounding a neighboring house. The arriving Sonderkommando most likely confused the buildings in the dark. Most likely, their task was to clean up the surviving participants in the massacre. After this, the surviving soldiers had only one option - to leave Donetsk. We decided to break through to Bezler in Gorlovka. Some of the wounded who survived the massacre at the airport were able to be transported to Gorlovka in order to avoid “accidents.” New interesting details were also revealed there. It turns out that Bezler himself was preparing the operation to seize the Donetsk airport, developing it for five days, and conducting reconnaissance. The enemy became aware of this; most likely, Bezler also has Ukrainian agents working for him. Instead of an assault, they decided to make an “assault” on Khodakovsky, at the same time sending a special forces detachment of volunteers. People with experience in conducting special operations were thrown like infantry to treacherous execution. “Mole” with the call sign “Schumacher” was identified by chance already from “Bes”. The militias who retreated to Gorlovka from Donetsk were able to organize the transportation of their belongings. By chance, as often happens, the transporters caught the Schumacher backpack. When they opened it, they discovered very interesting contents (see at the beginning). Further more - demands were received to return the backpack and its contents. There was a refusal. Betrayal. Why should what happened during the departure of the militia detachment from the Donetsk airport be considered precisely as a betrayal? In conditions of poor organization and chaos, losses from friendly fire in war are inevitable. The fact that this was precisely a betrayal, in addition to many other signs, is evidenced by the subsequent coverage of events. Look at this photo. (Photo. Corpses photo) 
The worst thing about it is not the pile of militias riddled with bullets and shrapnel, the worst thing is the lenses of professional cameras on the right. . For what? For the report. There is a strict rule - to hide your losses, especially - never show them in all the bloody details. conclusions Why do the leadership of Russian militia units arriving in the Southeast initially turn on traitors like Khodakovsky? Why are their provision and support so poorly organized? unacceptable. .
After the assault, the airport stopped working for its intended purpose. The militia made no further serious assault attempts.
10.julia.2014 Militias have encircled the airport in Donetsk
The army of the Donetsk People's Republic surrounded the airport named after Sergei Prokofiev. The Vostok battalion conducted an reconnaissance operation, which showed that the Ukrainian military continues to control the airport territory and is at the same time blocked there. The soldiers may try to break through towards the village of Karlovka, and the task of the militia is to prevent this.The intensity of hostilities increased on August 10, and began in full force on the morning of August 24. Offers to surrender and irregular shelling followed. The special forces responded with dense, targeted fire. The Kirovograd group was reinforced by other troops.The DPR militia began shelling the airport with artillery on August 20. Until this date, fire was directed at Marinka and Avdeevka, the largest populated areas controlled by Ukrainian troops near Donetsk. After this date, the shelling did not stop.
First full-scale assault
The first serious assault on the airport took place on the night of September 1, simultaneously with the attack on Lugansk airport.
Artillery, mortars, and rocket launchers were in use. Tanks and other armored vehicles were used. But the defenders managed to repel this attempt, like all the others.
Other attempts
The DPR announced assault attempts on September 28, October 2, 3 and 6. After which they announced the capture of the airport. In fact, assault attempts were made every day, starting from the first of September. 
Infographics detailed plan of Donetsk Prokofiev Airport
1 - Monastery; 2 - Metro Supermarket; 3 - Toyon/Lexus Auto Center; 4 - New terminal; 5 - Bus station; 6 - Oil depot; 7 - Cemetery of old aircraft; 8 - VIP terminal under construction; 9 - Hangars; 10 - Control tower (located outside the plan); 11 - Old terminal; 12 - Operating VIP terminal; 13 - Donbassaero Control Center; 14 - Hotel "Polet"; 15 - Civil Aviation Headquarters; 16 - Aviation repair center; 17 - Boiler room; 18 - Command and control center.
Objects not related to airport infrastructure are circled blue outline.
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Donetsk airport
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byword. He doesn’t want to disappear from the reports. I asked several questions on this topic to knowledgeable people from the DPR. This is the picture we got.
Givi and Motorola commanders of the Somalia and Sparta detachments And many others
Bridgehead for the attack on Donetsk
If you think that in a modern war something is decided by a narrow strip of bare land, you should at least read a little, at least the simplest military literature. This version is for the little ones: Why Donetsk Airport is really needed. Both sides need the airport to demonstrate their victory in the conditions of a truce. The last word is remembered, each side wants to leave the last military victory for itself. This is very important for the masses; the airport will go down in history for centuries. This fact alone justifies all the sacrifices of the heroes. All other reasons are just dirt that it’s better not to even know. Elections must be held both in Ukraine and in new states. Therefore, no one wants to completely stop hostilities. After all, war is such a good distraction from other problems; even a small military victory raises ratings better than thousands of billboards and commercials. Here the opinions of the parties converge - for everyone, the airport is like a small theater on which the war is played out for news releases. Former Minister of Defense of Donetsk people's republic Igor Strelkov explained why the militias have not yet managed to take Donetsk airport. According to Strelkov, the difficulty lies in the fact that the punishers are not holed up in civilian buildings, but in an air defense unit where a bunker is equipped that is designed to carry out a nuclear strike. This was told by KP military correspondent Dmitry Steshin, who spoke with the commander. In this regard, it becomes clear why artillery strikes do not cause critical damage to the enemy - soldiers and armored vehicles on the surface are destroyed. Moreover, Strelkov notes, the Ukrainian army performs well in defense. These are Russians, the commander stated.
For a month now, the hottest battles have been taking place at the Donetsk airport. Mass heroism is shown by both sides - some protect, others build a road from corpses. The heroes are surrounded by a thick veil, built of lies, myths and populism.
In memory of the fallen defenders, we decided to shed at least a little truth on the events and debunk the myths created in Moscow and Kyiv.
Donetsk Airport named after S.S. Prokofiev
The airfield in the city of Stalino was built on blood. The first bulldozers began leveling the area for the runway in 1933 - the hungriest year in the history of Ukraine. Even Russian historians who argue about Stalin’s guilt do not deny the very fact of the famine. The first passenger planes flew from Donetsk all the way to Starobelsk, a city in the Lugansk region, located 160 km from the airport.
In July 2011, for Euro 2012, a new runway was built, and in May 2012, a new terminal that could handle 3,100 passengers in one hour. It was designed by the Croats and, as time has shown, they did their job well. It’s not for nothing that Kolesnikov (Minister of Transport) spent almost 7 billion hryvnia of state money, that is, 875 million dollars. The terminal is standing and can withstand hail. A lot was also stolen, but who will remember.
But even after the football championship, construction did not end. Donetsk oligarchs, like real feudal lords, cannot use a common terminal. For them, ordinary Donetsk residents are divided into two categories - servants and smerds. That's why they started building VIP terminal. For the money of taxpayers, that is, us.
Sergei Prokofiev, after whom the airport is named, is a famous composer of the last century, born in the Donetsk region. A favorite of Stalin, his operas War and Peace and The Fiery Angel are perfectly suited to modern events.
Aerodrome
Can accommodate aircraft of any class. In 2013, it passed through 1,100,500 passengers. In addition to the charters of Akhmetov and company, it flies a little more than a dozen airlines. The main directions are Kyiv and Moscow. Almost everything else is Turkish resorts. There is only one flight to Europe and beyond, to Munich. For the middle class of Donetsk feudal lords who have not yet bought a personal plane, there are also flights to Greece and the Emirates. The rest is just little things - Kutaisi, Surgut, Ashgabat, Israel. Also accepts cargo.
The first assault on Donetsk airport
After the capture of Slavyansk, a detachment of the 3rd special forces regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces arrived at the airport. The special forces were stationed in the old terminal, and the airport continued to receive and dispatch flights. In May, Khodakovsky’s detachment, called the “Vostok Battalion,” arrived in Donetsk. It included many people from the Caucasus - Chechnya, Dagestan and other places.
This is how it began...
On May 26, Khodakovsky, who, according to some sources, previously served in Alpha, held negotiations with the commander of our special forces. The conversation went something like this:
- Let's take the new terminal. So that there is no shooting and no unnecessary victims. You remain in the old terminal, you can report to your superiors that you did not give up your position. Who needs bloodshed? We will enter the working, new terminal, journalists from Russia will come and take pictures. The airport will continue to operate.
- Well, try it. We took the oath and are not going to become traitors, like some.
After this conversation, several KAMAZ trucks with militants moved towards the airport. They entered the new terminal, which contained passengers and airfield personnel. The special forces did not interfere with them so that there would be no casualties among the civilian population. The fighters first opened warning fire, which dispersed the civilians. At this time, the militants took up defensive positions and prepared to repel the attack. Then the battle began.
...and so it ended.
The militants managed to climb onto the roof and install portable air defense systems there. Ours used aviation, at least two Mi-24 helicopters and one Su-25 attack aircraft. Under the cover of smoke bombs, Khodakovsky’s militants undertook a maneuver later used by Strelkov in Slavyansk. The code name is “Set a Streak”.
Almost all units of the regular army of the Russian Federation that were introduced into the territory of Ukraine passed through this meat grinder. Not every soldier went on the attack, but there were representatives from each unit. The artillerymen, of course, did not attack, they only supported with fire.
The same can be said about militant groups. Even Cossacks from the LPR were brought to Donetsk for this purpose. Therefore, there is no point in describing each division - name any, you won’t be mistaken, they took part. Why was this done? The answer is at the end of the article.
Russian television promoted the field “commanders” Givi and Motorola, but their role was greatly exaggerated. They are television stars who will receive all the laurels in case of victory, but not key figures or even commanders of any significant units. Next to them are military advisers from the Russian Federation, who make all the decisions.
It is worth noting that creating myths around is beneficial to all parties to the conflict. Lies come from all sides - both from Putin and Poroshenko. But none of them concerns those heroes who stand there to the death.
Myth No. 1 Donetsk Prokofiev Airport
Somewhere in mid-September, such a thing as Donetsk Airport. Prokofiev, simply ceased to exist. It cannot accept passengers - the terminals, along with the entire infrastructure, are almost destroyed. It cannot receive aircraft - navigation and radar equipment has been practically destroyed, as well as oil depots, repair and other facilities necessary for aviation.
Some of the aviation equipment is located far beyond the airfield, no one knows what’s wrong with it now. The condition of the runway is a big question. Restoring even minimal functionality of the airfield may take many months. The problem is that it is not safe to repair dilapidated objects. It's better to tear everything down and rebuild. It will be even cheaper this way.
Therefore, it would be more logical to use the phrase “the territory of the former airport named after. Prokofiev."
Myth No. 2 Donetsk airport has been taken
If someone tells you that they have taken over the airport, feel free to send them to Putin. The airport area is more than 400 hectares, 99% of which is completely open area. All this land is viewed not only with the help of drones, but also with simple, stationary instruments. The artillery of both sides has already targeted this area very well, so it is simply impossible to control it. Neither Ukraine nor the DPR. Everything that appears there immediately comes under dense and accurate artillery fire.
This is Luhansk airport
Under the airport there are many underground communications, ranging from a tunnel connecting anti-aircraft units to a bomb shelter and terminal basements. Dozens of buildings, large and small, allow you to hide from shelling.
We can only talk about control over specific buildings. The main stronghold of our forces is the new terminal. The artillery that the militants have can completely destroy all buildings on the territory of the airport, as was done in Lugansk. Ukrainian can do the same. But the parties are trying, if possible, to preserve at least something that could, at least conditionally, be called a captured/protected airport.
But even if the militants seize all the buildings, it will not be possible to talk about complete control. Special forces can appear at any moment, right out of the ground. So, even if the terrorists knock our people out of the buildings, they will be a little scared to spend the night in these huge, empty, gigantic buildings.
The militant commanders will not dare to leave a garrison of several hundred people overnight (and less will not work - too large areas need to be kept under control). Ukrainian soldiers won’t even need to knock them out. Lovers of the Russian world woke up in the morning and were missing a dozen or two of their comrades. And even fewer bodies were found. And so every night. Do you think all these Givi and Motorolas are going to achieve such a Pyrrhic victory?
To take Donetsk airport, you need to take everything settlements located within a radius of 10 km from it.
Myth No. 3 The situation at Donetsk airport
If we talk about the situation at the Donetsk airport, then we need to call exact time and list all the objects in question. For example: “As of 16:21 07.10.2014, the Ukrainian military controls objects A, B, C and two floors of object D. Militants control the ground parts of objects D and E, and fighting is taking place in objects Z, Z, and I.” In five minutes, everything can change dramatically.
The main myth. Strategic importance of Donetsk airport
Both sides of the conflict call the airport a “strategic” facility. But that's not true. The famous volunteer Roman Donik said the best about the airport in his
The battle for Donetsk airport became the bloodiest battle of this crazy and criminal Russian-Ukrainian war. In terms of the number of deaths, it far exceeded the battle of Ilovaisk, Saur-Mogila and the border battles of June-July.
It is noteworthy that on the Ukrainian side, Donetsk airport heroically and selflessly defended different time either natives of Kirovograd (almost all of them were baptized in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate), or Nikolaev (and these are not only almost all parishioners of the UOC-MP, but also mostly speak Russian). Although, let’s make a reservation, canonical discussions about Orthodoxy in Ukraine or even the theological discussion between Orthodox and Uniates have nothing to do with this deadly bloodshed. The airport showed us that Orthodox brothers are fighting to the death with other Orthodox brothers. We were told for a long time that the militia was supposedly on a victorious liberation march across Ukraine. But it turned out that the victory of some Orthodox brothers over others can only be very bloody and fierce. There will be no less price in such fratricide. It's not even a Pyrrhic victory. This is more trouble than victory.
The first battle for the airport took place on May 26, when Ukrainian troops defended it. From then until mid-September, the airport was subject to periodic shelling and attacks. Since mid-September, shelling and attempts to storm the airport became almost daily, and from October 1 they became especially fierce. On some days there were several attacks with quite large losses. It has been repeatedly reported that during the assaults, the militia lost more than 500 people killed and stopped almost all offensive actions on other sectors of the front, concentrating only on this unattainable goal for many months.
What is this desired military goal for the self-proclaimed militia? Once a beautiful, modern terminal costing $875 million and handling 1 million passengers a year, it was well built by a Croatian construction firm. The airport building itself is almost a square with a side of only some 150 meters of glass and concrete, to which on the side of the airfield is attached a gallery 200 meters long and five boarding gates about 70 meters long, also made of a reinforced concrete frame, steel and glass. Thus, the entire defense was kept “on a patch” of 150 by 200 meters (4 football fields), however under several layers of concrete floors. The old airport terminal is even smaller. This building is 150 meters long and 20 meters wide with a small adjacent hall 50 by 50 meters. The old terminal is located just 70 meters from the new one. Besides them, in the distance stands the reinforced concrete airport tower, on which the Ukrainian flag fluttered for many months. That's all for what news reports usually call the big phrase "airport building complex." In size, the new terminal turned out to be comparable to the epic Troy, because this is exactly the size it has in excavations. Only the battle of Troy was fleeting, only about 1-2 weeks. Our battle turned out to be much longer. And instead of a fortress, there were simple buildings here. And these buildings turned out to be impregnable. In addition to the new and old terminals, not far away there is the Polet hotel, the Metro supermarket, hangars and fuel tanks that have long been empty, riddled and damaged by explosions. Behind the airport terminals there is a huge airfield with two runways (the length of the concrete road is more than 4 km). These runways could accommodate any aircraft available on planet Earth, including the supergiant Mriya and even the American space shuttle in the event emergency landing. The airport was wonderful. To the west of the airport is the village of Peski, occupied by the Ukrainian army. This village became a secondary site in the battle for the Donetsk air harbor.
However, let's return to the terminals. Based on the very modest size of the two buildings, we can conclude that they were hardly defended by more than 2 companies. A larger number would be difficult to deploy effectively for defense. Approximately 200 soldiers. Fewer than there were Spartans. Only the Spartans stood to the death against a huge army of interventionists, and here brother went against brother. It was this garrison size of 200 people that determined the success of the most effective defensive operation of the Ukrainian army. This is exactly how many Ukrainian army fighters with Orthodox crosses on their necks were bled dry by militia formations with the same exact Orthodox crosses on their necks.
The airport came under fire with increasing ferocity. In the summer it was only periodic shelling from grads and 120-mm mortars. In mid-September the fire intensified significantly. The phrases “artillery shelling with shots almost every second”, “fire from all sides at the airport”, “strong cannonade from several areas towards the airport” flashed in messages on Donetsk social networks. Immediately after the elections on November 2, according to messages on social networks in Donetsk, gunfire was fired at the airport all day with an average intensity of two rounds per minute, which means 120 shells per hour. Mortars usually fired at close range, covering residential buildings, artillery guns were installed in the city squares, and “grads” and “hurricanes” were fired across the entire city from the southwest, south and east. Judging by messages in in social networks each heavy shelling had to consist of no less than several hundred shells. And this is not so much, considering that one salvo of “hail” is 40 rockets of 122 mm caliber. And there were at least several dozen such strong shellings. In January the shelling became even more intense. Then tanks began to fire directly at the terminal. If we are based on estimates on social networks of Donetsk regarding the intensity of shelling and if we assume that most of the shelling was directed at the airport area, then we can, to a first approximation, estimate that this section of the front was hit during the entire period from May to mid-January 21 by at least 5 thousand shells.
It is important to understand that with such a large number of shells fired into the airport area, and often even “over the head” of Donetsk from its southern or eastern regions, a certain small proportion of them inevitably undershot and fell in residential areas. These mistakes are, to a large extent, the answer to those very inexplicable attacks on residential areas of Donetsk, for which the parties blamed and continue to blame each other. But as a rule, this is not the result of malicious intent, but more often either the militia’s shells undershot, or retaliatory erroneous strikes by Ukrainian artillery on DPR artillery positions. From the building of the new airport terminal to Stratonavtov Street on the outskirts of Donetsk (this street suffered the most destruction) is only 700 meters. At the same time, the deployment of multiple launch rocket systems and artillery positions to shell the airport required a significantly greater range, since shooting from short ranges is impossible. This made it inevitable for the DPR militia to shoot through the city from long distances. And it would be strange to expect that out of many hundreds of rockets and artillery shells, some small part would not fall short on a peaceful city. And some of the retaliatory shells of the Ukrainian army inevitably fell on residential areas.
The airport building itself, after prolonged shelling, was badly damaged by the beginning of January, some ceilings and columns collapsed, but the fortress still stood. Many shells fell around the terminal, and behind it, recently published video evidence shows at least a dozen pieces of equipment and vehicles, all destroyed by artillery fire. In front of the airport building you can also see numerous craters on the asphalt. A lot of shells were also fired at the village of Peski behind the rear outskirts of the airport. The village, 1 km by 2 km long, is almost destroyed.
A rough estimate of the number of 5 thousand shells that hit the airport and the surrounding area during the entire fighting inevitably evokes an association with the Brest Fortress. At the same time, it turns out that in terms of the number of shells fired, the assault by German troops on the Brest Fortress is comparable to the current battles of two fraternal peoples around the Donetsk airport. The report of the 45th Wehrmacht Infantry Division on the assault on the fortress (published by historian M. Solonin, translated by Vasily Risto) names relatively clearly the time intervals when artillery preparation was carried out on the Brest Fortress, as well as the number of artillery involved. For example, it is known that 2880 rocket artillery shells from six-barreled mortars, 31 shells of super-heavy mortars of the Karl type were fired at the fortress, and in addition 9 light, 3 heavy batteries and 210-mm mortars in the amount of 9 units and periodically two more were fired at the citadel divisions of the same mortars. The fire itself lasted only 15 minutes from 4 am on June 22, but on June 23 there were several powerful fire attacks on the fortress throughout the entire day, and on June 24 only until noon. After this, organized resistance to the fortress ceased, and resistance remained only in isolated pockets. During these 2 and a half days, about 6 thousand shells were fired at the fortress (the report does not give an exact final figure, but a rough estimate leads to such figures). Thus, in terms of the number of shells, the Brest Fortress and Donetsk Airport are comparable. However, the Brest citadel, which was mainly the target of fire on June 22-24, 1941, extends 700 meters in length and 300 meters in width. That is, the area under attack in Brest turned out to be 5 times larger than at the Donetsk airport, although on the other hand, in Brest this happened in three days, and at the air gates of Donetsk - for many months.
What else can this crazy assault by the Orthodox on other Orthodox be compared to? With Port Arthur? With Sevastopol? Based on the intensity of the fire, it is possible. But due to the absurdity of the attackers and unnatural bitterness, it is impossible. Foreign aggressors were attacking there. And here the Orthodox Russians stormed their Orthodox brothers. Dozens of attacks were repulsed one after another. This did not happen in the Brest Fortress. This happened only in Sevastopol and Port Arthur. Of course, the defense of this stronghold will be included in the textbooks of military art around the world.
If you look at airport terminals, you will see that all the space around the buildings is open. These are either parking lots and entrances in front, or concrete pavement of the airfield in the back. It couldn't be worse for a frontal attack. When land mines explode, all the fragments fly, ricocheting off the hard surface at an acute angle and hitting everything in their path. At the same time, there are no craters at all on the concrete surface or almost none on the asphalt and there is nowhere to hide.
If you look closely at the photographs of the Donetsk airport terminal during its construction, you can see that the entire structure tall building is based on a large number of vertical powerful reinforced concrete columns, on which reinforced concrete floors lie in several levels. These several levels are visible everywhere except the main hall. In the main central hall you can see the reinforced concrete roof slabs and underneath them is the floor of the upper departure zone. At the same time, the arrival zone was located below the overpass and also under powerful reinforced concrete floors. Below the arrivals area there were basements on two or more levels.
This design of the airport building made it difficult to hit by artillery fire. Any high-explosive shells falling on the building from above should not have caused much damage to it. Even high-explosive 152 mm caliber shells, exploding on the concrete roof slabs, should have left only small potholes in the high-strength concrete. This did not harm the defenders below much. Concrete-piercing shells could hardly have been more effective. A concrete-piercing projectile is designed to pierce a concrete ceiling and hit the confined space of a bunker or dugout. Then he disables the bunker's grison. But in this case, when in front of us is a reinforced concrete box with a roof, open on all sides, the impact of such a projectile should only lead to making a small hole in the roof. It turns out to be very difficult to hit a supporting structure during mounted shooting. DPR units attempted to destroy load-bearing reinforced concrete pillars while firing tank guns at direct fire. But this is also difficult. After all, getting from a tank into a load-bearing reinforced concrete pillar 70-80 cm wide is not so easy. And if a tank shell does hit, then the pillar can only be destroyed with a few hits. But this turned out to be the only way to attack. This is what happened in January, when tanks and direct-fire artillery fired at the terminal many times. But the terminal itself could not respond with artillery, because it did not have its own artillery weapons and there was nowhere to place it.
Only on the evening of January 21, after many days of shelling, did Ukrainian troops leave the new terminal. By this time he was already shot through and through. The militia declared victory, but the victory is doubtful. It was not for nothing that the militia leaders spoke in front of video cameras near residential buildings 700 meters from the terminal behind the slope. Ukrainian troops have remained in positions around the airport airfield and they can shoot through the ruins of the new terminal in the same way as the militia did before. Most likely, the ruins will be located in no man's land. It is unlikely that the militia will be able to gain a foothold in them.
These ruins will be a monument to the shame of our country. But they will soon become a monument to Russian repentance. Repentance for fratricide.
And such repentance is not far off.
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