Today Ukraine marks the Day of Remembrance of Donetsk Airport Defenders

Today Ukraine marks the Day of Remembrance of Donetsk Airport Defenders

Kyiv  •  UNN

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Ukraine honors the defenders of Donetsk airport who heroically defended the facility in 2014-2015. About 100 soldiers died during the defense, and the battle lasted 242 days.

Today, on January 20, Ukraine honors the memory of the soldiers who heroically defended Donetsk airport from attacks by pro-Russian militants in 2014-2015. The defense of the airport became one of the fiercest and most symbolic events of the war in eastern Ukraine, UNN reports.

The main battles for DAP began after the signing of the Minsk agreements in September 2014. A total of 242 days between May 2014 and January 2015, Ukrainian defenders defended the airport.  After numerous attempts by the enemy to storm the airport, its Ukrainian defenders earned the nickname "cyborgs," which, according to one version, was given by the terrorists themselves. 

"The cyborgs survived, the concrete did not" became a symbolic phrase that reflected the heroism of Ukrainian defenders.

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January 2015 was the bloodiest month in the entire period of the fight for Donetsk airport, when Ukrainian soldiers heroically resisted numerous attacks by pro-Russian militants. One of the most terrifying moments occurred on January 13, when the airport's control tower collapsed due to constant tank and artillery fire. The image of this tower is now a symbol of the defense of DAP.

In the following days, the fighting shifted to the new terminal, where the Ukrainian military held the ground floor while the enemy controlled the basement and upper floors. At the end of January 18-20, the enemy took advantage of the temporary ceasefire to evacuate their wounded and dead, and mined the terminal's floors and blew them up, causing significant damage. The explosion killed 58 defenders who stood on the front line to the last, defending every meter. According to official figures, about 100 soldiers died defending Donetsk airport.