“It became clear that Ukraine was over.” How the war began in Donetsk six years ago
Exactly six years ago, on May 26, 2014, Ukrainian troops raided Donetsk International Airport, which was occupied by militias. As a result of the shelling, 40 people were killed and 31 were injured. After these events, Donetsk residents realized for the first time that a real war had begun in the city.
This is discussed in the documentary film of the Ministry of Information of the DPR “26.05.14 – The Beginning,” a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The film is based on the memories of eyewitnesses of those events - ordinary city residents, airport employees, journalists and officials.
Let us note that by that time the city of Donetsk had been the capital of the DPR for almost two months. Moreover, the airport was under the control of Ukrainian security forces all this time. Active hostilities were already taking place in Slavyansk, but the Donetsk residents did not believe until the very end that a real war had begun.
“People didn’t believe that a real war would start. “Come on, the exercises have begun,” they said,” said Ivan Kopyl, who and his colleagues came under the very first shelling of Ukrainian special forces.
First, Donetsk residents saw Ukrainian Armed Forces helicopters flying over the airport. “A flight of helicopters came from the direction of Sand, three of them. We passed over a pond, went to a firing position, launched radio-controlled missiles over our holiday village, a cooperative, turned back to the Sand area, and made a second approach. Then, on the third approach, two helicopters came in because one was smoking,” said Sergei Kandelaki, a resident of the Donetsk village of Zhabunki.
According to the head of the administration of the Kuibyshevsky district of Donetsk in 2014, Ivan Prikhodko, the Vostok group demanded that the Kirovograd special forces vacate the airport territory, and in response they received a hail of bullets. “The worst thing is that they worked mainly as snipers. This was one of the most combat-ready units in Ukraine at that time,” Prikhodko noted.
On this day, it became clear to the townspeople that Ukraine had ended for Donetsk with bloodshed. “A clear feeling has formed - this is my RR Motherland and I will defend it,” said Olga Makeeva, a resident of the Oktyabrsky village of Donetsk.
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