Detachable Subdivision
"Rivne Professional College of
National University of Life
and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine"
Today, January 16, is the All-Ukrainian Day of Remembrance of the "Cyborgs." Ukraine honors the defenders of Donetsk Airport.
“I don’t know who is defending Donetsk airport, but we can’t knock them out for three months. They tried to storm it — they broke into our way — we retreated. They started to cover it with hailstones — they dive into underground sewer collectors… I say, I don’t know who is sitting there, but these are not people — these are cyborgs,” one of the enemy fighters wrote on Facebook. The first called them “Cyborgs”… They said that only robots are able to survive in such inhuman conditions.
The battles for Donetsk Airport lasted 242 days - from May 26, 2014 to January 22, 2015. Volunteers and medics also participated in the defense, so on Cyborg Remembrance Day, their memory is also honored.
According to official data, more than 200 soldiers died defending Donetsk airport.
On May 26, 2014, pro-Russian separatists and Chechen militants seized the airport buildings of the then peaceful Donetsk. On the same day, Ukrainian security forces struck at the terrorist positions and established control over the Donetsk airport. Later, there was a complete destabilization of the city of Donetsk, the beginning of the occupation and endless attempts by the enemy to seize control of the airport, but our soldiers did not surrender their positions and, even under heavy fire, held their defense.
At various times, special forces of the 3rd Separate Regiment, fighters of the 79th, 80th, 81st, 95th Separate Airmobile and 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigades, 57th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, 90th Separate Airmobile and 74th Separate Reconnaissance Battalions, fighters of the Dnipro-1 Regiment, soldiers of the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps (DUK) and many others fought at the airport and the nearby village of Pisky. Many of them were awarded state awards, some of them posthumously.
On January 18-21, 2015, the explosion of the DAP terminal killed 58 cyborg defenders who defended this bridgehead to the last drop of blood. On January 21, 2015, a decision was made to withdraw Ukrainian servicemen from the new terminal - this facility was completely destroyed and unsuitable for defense.
"The 'cyborgs' survived, the concrete did not," is a phrase that went down in history along with the feat of Ukrainian fighters.
Eternal memory, eternal glory and honor to the defenders of Ukraine!
Oksana LYSYAK,
humanities teacher
