First battle for Donetsk airport

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First battle for Donetsk airport
The airport before the devastation
The airport before the devastation
date May 26, 2014 to May 27, 2014
place Airport Donetsk , Donetsk Oblast , UkraineUkraineUkraine 
output Ukraine victory
Parties to the conflict

UkraineUkraine Ukraine

Donetsk People's Republic Donetsk People's Republic
Russia Russian volunteers

Troop strength
3 Mi-24 attack helicopters
Unknown number of paratroopers
Sukhoi Su-25 combat aircraft
200 gunmen
losses

No

More than 50 killed 43 wounded

The First Battle of Donetsk Airport was a military conflict in the Ukrainian War over control of Donetsk Airport between troops from Ukraine on the one hand and troops from the separatist Donetsk People's Republic and volunteer organizations from the Russian Federation on the other. The fighting took place from May 26, 2014 to May 27, 2014 , the day after the 2014 presidential election in Ukraine , and ended with the occupation of the airport by Ukrainian troops.

Takeover of the airport by the people's militia and the battle

On the morning of May 26, 2014, one day after the presidential elections, 200 pro-Russian gunmen occupied Donetsk Airport. The air traffic was then suspended indefinitely. Control of the airport would have allowed the insurgents loyal to Moscow to economically strengthen the areas they occupied or to fly in supplies for their troops from the Russian Federation by air. The Ukrainian leadership announced that they would not negotiate with the "terrorists".

The battle

Later on May 26, 2014, Ukrainian paratroopers attacked People's Militia positions at the airport using Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jets and Mil-Mi-24 attack helicopters , aided by air strikes by the Air Force . Eyewitnesses reported that many pro-Russian gunmen drove to the airport in trucks. In the evening, Ukrainian media reported that the armed forces had expelled the militias from the airport. However, according to observers, it was heard that heavy gunfire had emanated from the airport during the night. The next day, both sides reported that they had full control of the airport. The next day the militia announced that they had withdrawn from the airport after heavy losses. The Ukrainian military did not report any casualties in the fighting. More than 50 armed men died on the militia side, with 31 bodies being transferred to Russia.

Further development

The airport remained firmly in Ukrainian hands until the Second Battle of Donetsk Airport from autumn 2014 to January 2015.

Individual evidence

  1. Steffen Dobbert: Ukraine: The war is decided at the airport. In: Zeit Online. January 20, 2015, accessed April 19, 2015 .
  2. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/27/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA4M05420140527
  3. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/27/ukraine-rebel-30-dead-donetsk-airport-air-strikes
  4. http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKBN0E70F620140527
  5. http://mashable.com/2014/05/27/at-least-30-dead-in-ukraine-airport-battle/
  6. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/27/ukraine-rebel-30-dead-donetsk-airport-air-strikes
  7. a b http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10856406/Ukraine-crisis-pro-Russian-rebels-seize-Donetsk-airport.html
  8. Roman Olearchyk: "Donetsk airport descends from showcase to shambles" Financial Times, 21 January 2015 spotted on February 10, 2015
  9. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2639568/Ukraine-launches-air-strike-pro-Russian-rebels-send-paratroopers-seize-Donetsk-airport.html
  10. http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/26/world/europe/ukraine-airport-fighting
  11. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/27/world/europe/ukraine-election.html
  12. http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKBN0E70F620140527
  13. http://www.worldbulletin.net/world/137417/up-to-35-rebels-reported-killed-in-fighting-in-east-ukraine
  14. ^ Friedrich Schmidt: The Russian silence about the Russian dead. In: FAZ.net . June 4, 2014, accessed October 13, 2018 .