January 20 – Day of Remembrance for the Defenders of Donetsk Airport.

Today, January 20, Ukraine commemorates the Day of Remembrance for the Defenders of Donetsk Airport, who are referred to as 'cyborgs' for their courage and incredible resilience. Volunteers and medics also took part in the defense, so on the Day of Remembrance, their memory is honored as well.

The defense of Donetsk Airport lasted 242 days, from May 26, 2014, to January 23, 2015.

They held out! The concrete couldn't!

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 forces struck the positions of the terrorists and took control of Donetsk Airport. Later, there was complete destabilization of the city of Donetsk, the beginning of occupation, and endless attempts by the enemy to regain control of the airport, but our soldiers did not give up positions and even under heavy fire, they held the defense.

In January 2015, the bloodiest and fiercest battles took place. On January 13, as a result of constant mass tank and artillery shelling from militants, the control tower collapsed, the image of which became a symbol of the airport's defense. The battles then shifted to the floors of the new terminal.

Throughout the defense of the DAP, more than 200 soldiers died. Over 500 fighters were injured with varying degrees of severity. Only between January 18 and 21, 2015, as a result of the occupiers' explosion of the DAP terminal, 58 'cyborgs' were killed, which is why on January 21, a decision was made to withdraw Ukrainian servicemen from the new terminal, which was completely destroyed and not suitable for defense.

It is worth noting that the 'cyborgs' were named by the enemy themselves. They claimed that only robots could withstand such inhuman conditions.

For your information, previously, events on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance for the Defenders of Donetsk Airport, initiated by participants in the defense of the airport, took place in Ukraine on January 16, starting from 2018.

In 2022, the commemorations gained official status. According to a joint order of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Day of Commemoration for the Defenders of Donetsk Airport was established in the system of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, which is celebrated annually on January 20.