The abandoned Hostomelu airport was home to the world’s largest plane, but it was destroyed by a squadron of Russian helicopters that descended on the facility just days after the invasion of Ukraine.
On the first day of the war in Ukraine, Russian troops entered an abandoned airport that hosts the world’s largest planes.
President Vladimir Putin’s soldiers entered the country on February 24, 2022, but one of the first casualties of the war was a huge aircraft left on the runway of the defunct Hostomel airport. A war-destroyed airstrip prevented Russia from seizing Kiev, even as Russian forces worked to destroy the huge vehicles left behind.
The Ukrainian military quickly regained control of the airport, and on April 2, 2022, members of the squadron were spotted flying the Ukrainian flag in the remains of a huge barracks in Hostomel. But the onslaught on the now-abandoned airport reportedly caught Ukrainians off guard. It was addressed to Volodymyr Sumus, head of airport control and dispatch.
Sumus recalled that Russian helicopters soon occupied the area where the An-225 Mrya was located. He said: “We were not ready for war. The airfield was prepared to receive Boeing and Antonov aircraft. A missile attack on the territory of the airfield was considered at the planning meeting. However, [not] It’s a full-scale invasion. ”
Dozens of airport workers, including Sumus, had been warned of a possible attack by Putin on the region. They tried to protect the aircraft and moved the aircraft to another area around the airport shortly before the invasion. It was decided that the Mriya, a plane with twice the carrying capacity of a Boeing 747, would be left in a hangar to protect its pilots from the possibility of being shot down.
Helicopters flew over the airport, forcing staff to take shelter in nearby air raid shelters, while others jumped into sewers. “We couldn’t see them because they were flying low to the ground,” said Vitaly Rudenko, commander of the National Guard at the Ukrainian airfield. “When they came over the trees and started firing at the airport, we saw them. I witnessed it,” he said.
“Until probably the last moment I did not believe that this was possible, that an all-out attack was possible, but after the first group of helicopters I understood that it actually started. From helicopters When we came under fire, I gave the order to fire back. We were trying to shoot down the helicopter.”
Rudenko ordered the airport to be evacuated because Russia “dominated us in the air.” On February 24, just two days after war broke out in Ukraine, local civilians showed up to support the airport siege forces. The Russian military spent several days partially repairing the airport, but it still did not have a functioning runway. Ukrainian artillery fire destroyed Mrya, but also damaged Russian equipment, vehicles, and personnel.