Cyborgs survived, concrete failed: anniversary of the defense of Donetsk airport
Ukraine celebrates the Day of Honoring the Defenders of Donetsk Airport on January 20. It was on this day in 2015 that the battles for the airport ended, which lasted 242 days – from May 26, 2014 to January 23, 2015.
The Donetsk airport was defended by Ukrainian military personnel, volunteers, medics, and volunteers. For their resilience and endurance, the defenders began to be called “cyborgs” – according to one of the most common versions, this is what the enemies themselves called them, not understanding why the garrison could not be taken by storm.
On January 20, 2015, pro-Russian militants blew up the concrete floors of the new airport terminal. The next day, the last battles for the DAP subsided. According to General, Hero of Ukraine Oleh Mikats, who commanded the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade at the time, the airport’s defenses restrained enemy actions on a significant section of the front.
“If there were no Ukrainian military there, everything could have ended with the loss of not only Debaltseve, but also other territories for Ukraine. Donetsk airport was holding back the enemy forces,” Mikats explained.
The defense of the DAP consists of thousands of stories of courage. One of the most famous was the defense of the fire station building, which was held for two days by a group of the 90th airmobile battalion under the command of Maksym Rydzanych with the call sign “Adam”. It was this group that became the last combat unit to leave the airfield.
Despite enemy attempts to lure the defenders out of their positions through fake negotiations, the fighters repelled the attacks and refused to surrender. Signal officers came to the group’s aid and led the defenders to Ukrainian-controlled territory.
The feat of the “Adam” group became known after the death of Maksym Rydzanych in March 2015 near Opytne in the Donetsk region, where he was rescuing a fellow soldier. In 2021, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.
During the battles for Donetsk Airport, 97 Ukrainian defenders were killed, and three more are considered missing.
The order to establish January 20 as the Day of Honoring the Defenders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was adopted jointly by the Minister of Defense and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2022. Prior to this, the memory of the “cyborgs” was honored on January 16.
The defense of Donetsk airport became one of the first and most symbolic battles of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The phrase “People held out, the concrete did not hold out” forever captured the feat of those who held out to the end.