Image copyright Getty Image caption The new terminal of Donetsk airport was protected for 240 days

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine confirmed that the “cyborgs” withdrew from the ruins of the new terminal with losses.

The defense of Donetsk airport, or rather its old and new terminals, lasted from May 26 - about 240 days.

However, the Ministry of Defense says, Ukrainian forces are still protecting part of the airport buildings and nearby villages, so it is impossible to talk about the final loss of the facility - the fighting there continues.

Start of fighting

On the night of May 26, 2014, a group of pro-Russian separatists, on their second attempt, occupied part of the airport buildings, which suspended air traffic on May 6.

The militants demanded that the Ukrainian military, located in the old airport terminal, lay down their arms and surrender. The government, instead, issued an ultimatum for the separatists to lay down their arms and vacate administrative buildings.

Image copyright AFP Image caption So Donetsk airport looked like at the end of May

The demands of both sides remained unanswered, and the battle began.

“On May 26, army special forces units, with the support of military aviation, struck terrorists who were trying to take control of the Donetsk international airport. Attack and army aviation were involved, and an airborne landing was carried out. Ukrainian units acted quickly and effectively - about 45 militants were killed, several more dozens were wounded. A third of the "Vostok" battalion was destroyed by ATO forces. Panic began in the ranks of the militants, some terrorist leaders hastily left the city. Ukrainian units gained a foothold in the area of ​​the airport," the NSDC media center reported.

It was then that the episode with the shot trucks transporting fighters of the so-called “DPR” occurred.

Strategic object

Image copyright AP

For a long time, the situation around the airport remained relatively calm. Serious assaults on the strategic facility began after the conclusion of the Minsk agreements in September 2014.

These agreements, in particular, provide for “the stop of units and military formations of the parties on the line of contact as of September 19, 2014” and the withdrawal of heavy weapons 15 km from this line. The actual fulfillment of these conditions would mean that the separatists must liberate a significant part of Donetsk from weapons.

In order to gain an advantage in determining the distribution line near Donetsk, the separatists carried out constant attacks on the airport, the military says.

“The Donetsk airport, together with the adjacent heights, which are under the control of Ukrainian forces, is a springboard for further offensive by the separatists... When creating a buffer zone, the separatists will actually have to retreat to another outskirts of Donetsk,” noted the speaker of the DUK “Right Sector” on January 16 Andrey Sharaskin.

Image copyright Getty

Later, the authorities of the self-proclaimed “DPR” and the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that “Donetsk airport, according to the Minsk agreements, should be transferred to the control of the militias.”

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied this. “There is not a word in the Minsk agreements about the Donetsk airport,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevgeniy Perebiynos said in a commentary to BBC Ukraine on January 19.

Ukrainian "cyborgs"

Image copyright Getty

Over time, after many assaults, the airport also acquired symbolic significance. For Ukraine, this is evidence of the heroism of its fighters who successfully resist the powerful forces of the enemy. The airfield became the “Ukrainian Thermopylae” and the “Donbass Pavlov’s House”, and its defenders were called “cyborgs” by the enemy for their tenacity.

IN different time Fighters from the 95th and 79th airborne brigades, soldiers of the 3rd Kirovograd special forces regiment and the Dnepr-1 battalion, artillerymen and tank crews of the 93rd brigade, volunteers from the DUK "Right Sector" and the "Dnepr-1" battalion fought at the airport and adjacent Peski. OUN", military from other units.

Image copyright Gregory Mustang

For the separatists, this was an irritant that needed to be eliminated.

“It has also become a fundamental issue for the separatists. Just as for us it is a symbol of heroism, it has also acquired fundamental significance in the eyes of the separatists,” noted Semyon Semenchenko, commander of the Donbass battalion, deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on national security and defense.

Planes must fly from Donetsk airport. The main thing for the separatists is to record that they have an airport and planes supposedly take off from there. Alexey Melnik, military expert

At the same time, military experts did not exclude the use of the airport for its intended purpose (especially against the backdrop of statements about the “restoration of LPR aviation”), although given the destruction this is not worth it in the near future.

“Planes must fly from the Donetsk airport. The main thing for the separatists is to record that they have an airport and that planes supposedly take off from there,” Alexey Melnik, co-director of foreign policy and international security programs at the Center, told the Ukrainian Air Force in October. Razumkova.

Previously, the separatists had already captured the airport in Lugansk, although the runway there was also destroyed.

"Remember the Crimean events: Russian troops, who occupied Crimea, the first thing they did was capture all Crimean airfields. These are strategic objects, important communication centers. Just like the big ones sea ​​ports and railway junctions,” explained General Staff representative Vladislav Seleznev.

The end of defense?

Although attempts to take the airport by DPR forces did not stop throughout the fall and throughout December, especially brutal fighting here began after the New Year. On January 13, after several months of shelling, the tower where the Ukrainian flag was flying was destroyed.

Image copyright AFP

The “DPR” stated that Ukrainian forces were shelling residential areas of Donetsk from the airfield and from Peski. The separatists even said that they were ready to guarantee the safety of the “cyborgs” who agreed to peacefully withdraw from the airport.

However, the object’s defenders denied such accusations and did not agree to the proposals and ultimatums of their opponents.

The Ukrainian army responded powerfully to the assault attempts and managed to recapture some of the territories.

It was the panic of the separatists that the Ukrainian side explained the blowing up of the Putilov Bridge near Donetsk airport a few days ago. According to representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the “DPR” militants thus sought to protect themselves from the entry of ATO forces into Donetsk from the airport.

Separatists say the bridge was destroyed during a breakout attempt by the Ukrainian military.

However, on January 20 and 21, reports of killed and captured “cyborgs” began to appear. IN Russian media stories appeared about captured Ukrainian fighters.

A few days before, the leaders of the “DPR” repeatedly announced the complete capture of the airport, which, however, was not true at that time.

Image copyright Reuters

Finally, on January 22, the Ministry of Defense stated: “Yesterday, 20 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine fought out of the territory of the terminals, since their positions were destroyed and were under direct fire. 16 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were wounded during the battle and captured by terrorists. Within 24 hours, 6 Ukrainian servicemen were killed in the battles for the airport."

“Violent fighting continues near the Donetsk airport. The Ukrainian military, occupying advantageous positions, hold their positions, while simultaneously delivering artillery strikes on the attackers and their firepower,” the ATO said in a statement on Thursday, January 22, in the evening.

Was it necessary to fight?

The airport should have continued to be held, says Nikolai Voronin, who took part in the defense of the airfield as part of the 79th brigade.

Image copyright Getty Image caption The airport was shelled from artillery, Grads, mortars and tanks, snipers were working

“This is a fortress of “Ukrainianness”. This is the facility where there were many enemy losses and relatively few of our losses,” he tells the Ukrainian Air Force and adds that he does not know any of the “cyborgs” who would advocate leaving the airport.

The Ministry of Defense notes that in both terminals there is not a single fortification left that would provide protection to the military from snipers and tanks.

Andrei Sharaskin, a fighter of the Right Sector DUK, generally considers the question of whether it was necessary to hold the airport for so long as rhetorical.

“The new terminal would have held out indefinitely if more reinforcements had arrived there on time, rather than 15 people at a time,” he says.

Andrei Sharaskin also notes that all the surroundings of the Donetsk airport, which were held by the ATO forces, remain with the Ukrainian soldiers: “Both volunteers and military personnel - everyone remains in their positions. We keep the direction.”

The history of the battles for the Donetsk airport came to an end with the operation that DPR forces carried out on the 20th of January 2015. Then, the already strengthened militia army was able to deliver a fairly significant blow to the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which were located around the cities of Novorossiya; the main blow was dealt by the soldiers of the “Sparta” and “Somalia” battalions.

The shelling of the control tower by Somali tanks after many months yielded results - it collapsed, depriving the Ukrainian military of the support of snipers and artillery spotters. The DPR tanks that made their way into the airport destroyed the fortifications of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and the Sparta strike group began clearing the new terminal. Having driven the “cyborgs” into a trap, the militia occupied the upper floors and basement of the new terminal. The Ukrainian forces were locked on the first floor, but they refused to surrender and responded to all offers of peace with fire.

Then the militia decided to do something differently: they planted explosives in the basement under the defense site and blew it up. Two explosions, on January 19 and 20, put an end to the assault on the DAP. Most of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters died under the rubble, and on the afternoon of January 21, the surviving Ukrainian military were forced to surrender to the militia.

As a result of a months-long siege, the Donetsk airport turned into ruins, filled with explosives - mines and tripwires. The shelling of the territory did not stop for a long time.

* An organization prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Two years ago, parts of the Ukrainian troops abandoned the Donetsk airport, which was held by units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for 242 days and became one of the symbols of the war in eastern Ukraine.

The last defenders of the Donetsk airport were soldiers of the 81st Airborne Brigade; they were the ones who left the airport with losses at the end of January 2015, when all that remained of the airport buildings were piles of glass, concrete and reinforcement - the airport buildings were destroyed by the “DPR” separatists with the help of two powerful explosions.

Below the cut is a story about Donetsk airport.

02. First, let's look at a map with key objects marked in the Donetsk airport area. To the north-west is the control tower (with a very recognizable silhouette), to the east is the fire station. In the southwest there is an old cemetery, in the center of the map there are buildings of two terminals, Old and New.

03. DPR militants entered the airport on the night of May 25-26, 2014. Just two days later, units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces recaptured the airport and took up defensive positions inside the terminals.

04. Ukrainian soldiers inside the airport coruses. The building was defended mainly by airborne brigades, as well as special forces units - which can be seen from the autographs on the wall of the room.

05. Throughout the summer and autumn of 2014, heavy fighting continued in the area of ​​the airport with varying success; it often happened that one floor of the terminal was occupied by units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the other by separatists.

06. Heavy fighting also took place in the settlements closest to the airport - Peski and Opytnoye. Through them, cargo was delivered to the airport area. Ukrainian units in Piski:

07. Experienced:

08. The airport buildings were constantly shelled; after several months of constant hostilities, all that remained of the buildings were, in fact, reinforced concrete skeletons, cut by shrapnel.

09. Burnt tanks on the runway.

10. Post-apocalyptic landscape of the neighborhoods adjacent to the airport.

11. And this is what the fighting at the airport looked like from Donetsk.

12. New Year tree for paratroopers of the 93rd airmobile brigade. By the way, it was during the New Year that the situation at the airport began to escalate; the DPR militants (despite the ceasefire) went on an active offensive.

13. The separatists managed to block parts of the Ukrainian Armed Forces inside the buildings, leaving them without food and water supplies, but a small group of “cyborgs” (as the airport defenders were nicknamed) continued to defend the remains of the New Terminal. As eyewitnesses of the battles write, the enemy’s armor-piercing bullets pierced 3-4 thin walls inside the airport premises at a time.

14. It was not possible to storm the airport building; the separatists decided to simply blow up all the buildings at the Donetsk airport. The first explosion occurred on January 19 - it brought down all the floors of the building down to the basement and destroyed almost all barricades and shelters with a blast wave. The second explosion occurred on January 20 and destroyed the remains of buildings.

Photo: Sergey Loiko, Nur Photo, Anadolu Agency, Pierre Corm,

According to Ukrainian soldiers, the separatists managed to capture the airport only because no one initially considered it as a defense base:

"Most main question, which worries me about the DAP: why was Donetsk airport not initially considered as a defense springboard?
After the first battle on May 26, 2014, no one improved the engineering barriers in it. Only in November we began to strengthen it - we brought sand in bags. It would have been possible to strengthen the DAP earlier, dig in in places, and bring concrete blocks. And in November, neither them nor the crane could be delivered.
It's hard to defend a glass building. Plasterboard crumbled, bullets flew through, columns ricocheted. We brought in sand until our dump truck was hit. For the militants, the DAP was a training ground; they trained there. And we defended every piece of land at the airport. This is why he was important to us. I think if there were no Donetsk airport, we would not be in Avdeevka, Kramatorsk and Slavyansk now.»

Call sign "Mike", commander of the 1st Battalion, 79th Brigade.

Donetsk International Airport named after Sergei Prokofiev was founded in 1933, in the same year the first Aeroflot flight was organized on the route Stalino - Starobelsk. 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 opened its doors to passengers. throughput 100 passengers/hour.

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, the Donetsk Aviation Enterprise started flight operation aircraft of the 3rd generation Yak-42, which were successfully mastered by the flight and engineering staff and, since 1983, were the first in the USSR to begin performing international air transportation on this type of aircraft.

In 1988-1989, the flight and engineering staff of the airline took an active part in providing assistance to victims of the Spitak earthquake, for which particularly distinguished employees were awarded the Aeroflot Excellence Badge and diplomas of the Ministry civil aviation. On October 11, 1991, the Donetsk United Aviation Squadron was renamed the Donetsk Aviation Enterprise. In 1992, on the basis of the airline, with the help of trained engineering and technical staff, the repair of Yak-42 aircraft, which had flown 10,000 flight hours, began.

In 2002, the airline took first place in a regional competition to ensure labor safety for airline workers.

In 2003, the enterprise was reorganized by dividing the airline (Donbassaero) and the airport, on the basis of which the utility company " international Airport Donetsk", and in 2012 the airport was named after the famous composer Sergei Prokofiev.

Yana Sedova Saturday, January 21, 2017, 11:00

After 242 days of defense, the last Ukrainian fighters left Donetsk airport on 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 hiding place 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 most protracted and 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 people 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 accompanied 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 "Dapovites" 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, in a military vehicle, from which I only had time 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.

The airport, like the locals, 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 started 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 on 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 had 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 locality Cherkasskoe (Dnepropetrovsk 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 in DAP was quite calm, there was a so-called green corridor, a 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 blow-up also added to that.

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. We only knew 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 had already been taken prisoner (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 Sedova

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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 was heroically and selflessly defended at different times either by natives of Kirovograd (almost all of them were baptized in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate), or by Nikolaev (and these are not only almost all parishioners of the UOC MP, but also say in the majority in 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." By size 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 receive 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 by at least 5 thousand shells.

It is important to understand that with this large quantities shells fired into the airport area, and often even “over the head” of Donetsk from its southern or eastern regions, some 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 positions of multiple launch rocket systems and artillery 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 in air gates Donetsk - 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 military textbooks 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.