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The Antonov airport in Gostomel was the number one target for Russia on the first day of the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. The Kremlin sent an elite Russian landing force to capture it. He was supposed to ensure the landing of transport Il-76 with the main composition of Russian wax – for a throw to Kyiv. But the Kremlin’s plans collapsed, unable to withstand the resistance of Ukrainian soldiers. How the battles for the Gostomel airport crossed out Putin’s plans – in the material FREEDOM.
The Ukrainian warrior with the call sign “Zeus” is one of those who held back the onslaught of Russian troops on the capital of Ukraine in the first hours of a full-scale invasion. Together with two colleagues, he helped to correct the fire on the enemy in Gostomel.
“According to our calculations, about 450 pieces of equipment drove into this airfield, about 150 tanks, and the same number of Tiger-type reconnaissance vehicles. When the equipment began to advance in the direction of the airfield along the take-off, we began to practice artillery on enemy targets, and also began to destroy the equipment, ”said the military.
Antonov Airport, better known as Gostomelsky, is an international cargo airfield 25 km from Kyiv.
It was these air gates that the leadership of the Russian occupation army tried to use as one of the key points for the capture of Kyiv.
On February 24, 2022, the Russian landing force planned to make a rapid landing from helicopters in Gostomel and gain a foothold. Behind them, dozens of transport aircraft with the Russian military on board were supposed to descend, while armored vehicles came in from Belarus. And as a result of such a plan – the throw of the occupying forces on Kyiv.
But the Ukrainian soldiers in Gostomel thwarted the Kremlin’s “blitzkrieg”. The first battle was given by the soldiers of the National Guard of Ukraine: six helicopters out of 35, which the Russian invaders sent to storm, were shot down by Ukrainian defenders on approach.
“35 enemy helicopters came in, and we took the fight with them. Also, the result of this battle was the successful landing of the K-52 Alligator. To the left of the runway there, a combat helicopter also found its refuge. It was successfully planted by our fighters. Mi-24 is also a combat helicopter. Many of the wreckage on the runway is the wreckage of combat helicopters of the Russian Federation, ”said the chief foreman of the NSU Rapid Response Brigade.
Russian paratroopers who were able to land from the surviving helicopters were covered with artillery. The Russians tried to capture and hold the airport, but not a single transport worker in Gostomel ever landed. The runway was practically destroyed, became unusable.
“I think it demoralized them a lot, because they weren’t prepared for the fact that they would be given such a strong rebuff. They planned to enter, disembark and take up positions, and then move on, ”said the MTR fighter, a participant in the defense of the Gostomel airport.
The “Blitzkrieg” failed, however, despite the defeat of the Russian invaders near Kiev, the Kremlin propaganda later began to mold the paratroopers who tried to capture Gostomel into almost new heroes.
But he entered, or drove, into the history of the battle in Gostomel not only the Russian landing, but also directly Putin, who gave criminal orders. In the history of crimes against humanity. And the victory of the Ukrainian forces in Gostomel can already be considered the beginning of the collapse of Putin’s dictatorship.
On the morning of February 24, 2022, the Russian army crossed the state border of Ukraine in several directions. Putin had intentions to conquer Ukraine in three days by capturing Kyiv. But the occupation of the north lasted just over a month. And at the end of March 2022, the heroic defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine turned into a counteroffensive. Already in the first days of April, Ukrainian defenders drove the Russian invaders out of the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions.
