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January 21st, 2020 marked the 5th anniversary of the conclusion of the fight for the Donetsk Airport.
In the days leading up to January 21st, 2015, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) fighters repelled the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF), stopping their attempt to create a forward base that could be used to carry out attacks on the DPR.
According to the residents of Donbass and direct participants in the confrontation, the victory showed the vulnerability of the UAF and became a serious ideological blow to Kiev.
The fighting for the airport lasted 242 days, apart from a short ceasefire. Hostilities began in April 2014, when fighters of the 3rd regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces special forces were transferred to this area. Immediately after that the UAF captured the new terminal and the control tower.
In May 2014, volunteer units of the DPR entered the airport, and the fighters managed to gain a foothold in one of the terminals.
But after the enemy launched an air strike, the Donetsk fighters had to retreat with heavy losses.
As a result, Ukrainian military personnel of the 3rd separate regiment of the Kirovograd Special Forces, the special forces regiment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Dnepr-1, “Right Sector” volunteer battalion fighters, as well as the 72nd mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces with heavy equipment and the 79th Airborne Brigade of Ukraine positioned themselves at the airport.
As the UAF General Staff later explained, for the Ukrainian side, maintaining control of the Donetsk airport was of strategic importance.
The airport is located almost in Donetsk and was supposed to be a convenient starting position for the assault on the city.
In addition, the Ukrainian side believes that it was the protracted battles for the airport that stopped the onset of the militia of the DPR and LPR and did not allow expanding the borders of the republics to the administrative borders of Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
In the summer of 2014, active hostilities resumed in the airport area. The UAF managed to dug into their positions, but the DPR fighters were able to partially block the airport and prevent a further attack on Donetsk.
In early October, the Prime Minister of the DPR back then – Alexander Zakharchenko – announced the transfer of 90% of the territory of Donetsk Airport to militia control.
At the same time, the leadership of the Donetsk People’s Republic categorically rejected the proposal of the head of the Donetsk region, Sergei Taruta, to exchange the airport for the territories adjacent to Donetsk.
The DPR fighters made slow progress until the end of 2014, and in the first days of 2015 managed to reach the UAF’s positions at the airport. The DPR, initially captured the entire airport on January 18th, but Ukrainian soldiers remaining in the buildings resisted for another three days, until January 21st, 2015.
On the side of Ukraine, on January 21st, 2020, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attended a ceremony to commemorate Ukrainian “cyborgs” who died during the heroic defense of Donetsk International Airport.
There is a video, also showing the last stand of the Ukrainian “cyborgs” at the Donetsk Airport.
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remeber a night fighting video with a tank…at was heavy
If you are from Ukraine or Russia, never forget what the U.S did, the U.S administration is a bunch of modern day fascists.
Never forget the Nuland cookies, the censorship in YT, Google platforms and the continuous propaganda to keep a false narrative while killing civilians.
How could anyone forget that U.S. and E.U. entice Eastern countries with investments while Russia with tanks
Let me tell you the truth about those investments. I am from Eastern part of EU/NATO. Despite that we have common market, integrated economy, shared currency, same employers and same banks, western corporations and companies only pay 30% salaries to us. Even despite the fact that accorindg to western capitalistic market economy theory, this should not be the case because we have common market, integrated economy, shared currency, same employers and same banks. That is clear example of western colonial policy towards eastern Europe. And in Ukraine it was the west who brought snipers to maidan and started the war.
It was an honour to see Givi in action again. Men such as him come to the fore in situations of great adversity.
Yeah, him and Motorola were permanently happy like they were on meth or something ;)
cyborgs???? ahahahahahha wtf
Imbeciles with a foot on the grave….
fascist amerikan Ukraina nazis have been thoroughly defeated—Novorossiiya is now de facto Russian—like Krim, Abkhazia, Ossetia, Pridnestrovia…murikan cowardice and hypocrisy exposed
It’s a shame that nice new airport got destroyed in the fighting when it easily could have been avoided. Airports are very valuable assets to any country, but only if they’re intact! The Ukrainian military made a foolish decision to occupy the airport knowing full-well it would provoke a separatist response…
…now no one has the airport.
Lame… Why did this article not cover the awesome details of the fight?
Like how the DPR fighters (mainly Chechens if i remember correctly) managed to secure the first floor of the airport thanks to heavy fog, trapping ukraines nazis on the second and third floors of the airport building.
Set explosive charges on all the supporting beams and crushed many nazis in the rubble!
Article lacks some serious detail… reads like something a ukraine “cyborg” would have written.
There is a video, also showing the last stand of the Ukrainian “cyborgs” at the Donetsk Airport.
heil hitler.. we now die for the greater ukiestan dump.. heil biden heil osama.. may your teeth rot on the sweetness of ukie farming..
These guys are pretty experienced.. They are hitting the air port tower with towed artillery. Thats like a 3m target with givi smiling at their accuracy,.