Second Battle of Donetsk Airport
The Second Battle of Donetsk Airport was an engagement between the Ukrainian military and Russian military and its proxy forces of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) during the War in Donbas.[22] An earlier battle in May 2014 had left Donetsk International Airport in Ukrainian control. Despite a ceasefire agreement, the Minsk Protocol, in place since 5 September 2014, fighting broke out between the warring parties on 28 September 2014.
This article is about the battle fought from 28 September 2014 to 21 January 2015 during the Donbas war. For the battle fought in May 2014, see First Battle of Donetsk Airport.At the start of the battle, the airport lay between the separatist and Ukrainian lines of control, and was the last part of Donetsk city held by Ukrainian government forces. Heavy fighting over the airport continued into the new year, with some of the worst fighting taking place in January 2015. On 21 January, DPR forces overran the Ukrainian positions at the airport.[2] The remaining Ukrainian forces were either killed, forced to retreat, or captured.[23] The battle has been called the "Little Stalingrad".[24]
Strategic importance[edit]
The question as to whether control over Donetsk Airport was a strategic necessity for Ukrainian forces was called into question. As early as September 2014, Ukrainian parliament member Dmytro Tymchuk suggested that the airport should be destroyed, and that Ukrainian forces should retreat to a more easily defended position. Tymchuk stated the airport had been rendered unusable by the fighting, and that fears of Russia using it to support the Donetsk People's Republic were overblown. It was also said that the area north of the airport, which is forested, would have been easier to defend than a building surrounded by open space.[96]
Likewise, the airport's value to the separatists was also questioned. DPR forces had no access to aeroplanes or other aerial weaponry, and the airport's runway had been rendered useless by shelling. Moreover, following the end of the battle, Ukrainian troops retreated to the village of Pisky, just south-west of the airport's runway. They continued to control this village, meaning that the airport remained within the Ukrainian line-of-fire. It is likely that, because the DPR committed a large force to assaulting the airport, this provided an opening for the Azov Battalion to push the insurgents away from Mariupol.[97][98]
However, the airport served a tactical advantage for Ukrainians. While DPR was focused on airport events closely followed by the media, the Ukrainians managed to expel the DPR from nearby suburbs of the Donetsk agglomeration.
In popular culture[edit]
A film about the Ukrainian 'Cyborgs' called Cyborgs: Heroes Never Die was released on 7 December 2017.[99] The movie secured the top spot at the box office earning US$302,000 on its opening week.[100]
New Terminal ruins (October 2014)
DPR Sparta Battalion troops during a break (October 2014)
DPR Somalia Battalion fighter near a heavily damaged area (October 2014)
Rubble in one of the heavily damaged buildings near the Old Terminal (October 2014)
Heavily damaged hangar near the Old Terminal (October 2014)
DPR Sparta Battalion fighter near the Old Terminal (November 2014)
DPR Somalia Battalion fighter near the Old Terminal (November 2014)
Ruins of the Donetsk Airport with hotels that were damaged from artillery (November 2014)
Destroyed Ukrainian BMP-2K IFV (December 2014)
Destroyed DPR T-72B1 tank (December 2014)
View of runway from the Old Terminal (December 2014)
Outside ruins of Donetsk airport (December 2014)
Inside of the ruined Donetsk airport (December 2014)
