Battle for Hostomel Airport - Animated Analysis

It is the early morning of February 24th, 2022. Just minutes after the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin declares his “Special Military Operation” or simply full-scale invasion in Ukraine, the Russian 3M-54 Caliber Cruise Missile is on the way toward its target. First, it seems like it will strike the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, like many other missiles today. However, its real target is the military base 3018 of the National Guard of Ukraine, just 10 kilometers away from the city. Around 6 am,

the missile explodes on the empty exercise ground in front of the barracks. A couple of minutes later, another one hits near the local residential buildings. This is the first attack on the small town, which will become known for one of the most significant and fierce battles of the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion. This town is called Hostomel. The missiles strike the military base near Antonov Airport. Also called Hostomel Airport, it is an international cargo air hub and testing

facility that is located in the northern part of the small town of Hostomel. The complex was built in 1959 and included two closed heated hangars for maintenance and repair work and multiple administrative and research buildings. Its unique feature is a reinforced concrete runway, 3500 meters long and 56 meters wide, suitable for the landing of extremely heavy planes. At the time of the invasion, the largest aircraft in the world, the mighty An-225 “Mria” is under maintenance in one of the hanga

rs. At approximately 5:00 am, around 200 conscripts from the local military base of the Ukrainian National Guard, which was a target of the recent missile attack, move towards the airport and organize the defensive positions under the command of 35-year-old Vitaliy Rudenko. Armed with only small arms, soviet-made MANPADS, and several Zu-23-2 anti-aircraft guns, the conscripts are now responsible for defending a huge strategically important area of Antonov Airport. Having a shortage of men, as ma

ny of the National Guard professional members were sent to reinforce other directions before the war, there is no way to organize the defensive perimeter, so soldiers split into small groups and spread across the area on military trucks. Most of them belong to supply battalions which were responsible for firefighting, patrolling, and clerical duties, not combat operations. In about 4 hours, conscripts of the 4th Special Rapid Reaction Brigade will be reinforced with a couple of smaller National

Guard units, such as The 1st Brigade of Operational Purpose and Omega Special Anti-Terrorism Unit. They arrived on a couple of armored vehicles and essentially had the same armament as their colleagues from the 4th brigade. At the same time, 170 km from the Hostomel Airfield, a large group of Russian helicopters prepares to take off from Bokov Airport near Mazyr, Belarus. These are no less than 34 machines in total, mostly Mi-8s with airborne troops on board reinforced with over 10 modern K-52s

and a few older Mi-24s and Mi-28s attack helicopters. Staying in Belarus Airpspace as long as they can after the takeoff, the first wave of attack helicopters cross the Ukrainian border unnoticed at approximately 9:30 am. Lightly armed Mi-8 with troops depart in the second wave which accompanies the first one. Following the path above the wide Dnipro river, the first wave travels directly to the south in a long formation. As they approach the capital from the north, they take a sharp turn near t

he Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant. At this very moment, the Ukrainian missile impacts one of the helicopters, forcing it to perform a crash landing. Almost simultaneously, another direct hit is scored, forcing the Russian Mi-24 to quickly lose altitude and disappear in the calm waters of the water bank. The rest of the machines start dropping flares to lower the chances of being hit and rush towards the river bank to avoid the fate of the two destroyed aircraft. As of 10:30 am, Russia suffers it

s first losses on its way to Hostomel. Now, the long formation breaks into two groups. Forces of Group A fly to the northwest to attack the airport from the north inspecting, and if necessary, clearing the runway. Group B, on the other hand, flies southwest to approach the airfield from the south. Their mission is to cut off the base of the Ukrainian 4th Special Rapid Reaction Brigade of the National Guard from the airport and destroy defenders stationed there. Around 11:00 am, the helicopter gr

oups finally arrive at Hostomel. As helicopters from both groups approach the airport, Ka-52s, Mi-28s, and Mi-24s are the first ones to unleash the unguided rockets and autocannon fire on defenders. However, instead of a surprise attack on a formation of unorganized troops, invaders face spread-out National Guard groups that immediately open fire with all weapons that they have. One of the defenders, Sergiy Fatalyk, runs through the airstrip of the airport with a Soviet Igla MANPAD. He aims at t

he Russian Ka-52 flying directly at him but the distance is too short for launch, and the helicopter passes over him. Sergiy immediately turns around and after brief aiming, launches his missile into the tail of the enemy helicopter. Missle tracks down the machine and blows up near the engines, forcing the helicopter to crash right on the airstrip and immediately explode as ammunition catches fire. This incident proves the vulnerability of the most modern Russian helicopter to MANPADs, even as o

bsolete as the Igla, developed in 1971. As more and more attack helicopters engage in the fight, Mi-8s arrive but most of them have trouble landing with troops aboard due to intense fire. To clear the area, Russians also send at least two Su-25 ground attack aircraft and possibly Su-24 bombers for close air support but it's hard to estimate how effective they were in contested airspace. Rockets and autocannons of helicopters destroy the airport fuel tanks and a couple of planes near the airstrip

, covering the skies in black smoke. Heavy damage is inflicted on hangars and overall airport infrastructure. However, this provides little help to invading forces as Russia loses 3 K-52s, and a Mi-28 in different parts of the airport. One Mi-8 is critically damaged and cannot take off, so Russians later blow it up to prevent capture. As the fight continues for another hour, the National Guard soldiers are short on ammunition and are ordered to start retreating in an organized manner toward thei

r base. This allows all Russian Mi-8s to finally land on the western outskirts of an airport and deploy all their elite troops. Another group of helicopters drops off VDV forces on the north-eastern outskirt of Hostomel airport to cut off the national guard base. At least 100 men from the Russian 31st Guards Airborne Assault Brigade and 11th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade were deployed in the first wave. Armed with various grenade launchers, portable mortars, and small arms, elite troops mo

ve from different landing sites on the outskirts of the airport toward the main runway and secure it without much resistance. However, they do not immediately advance toward the airport buildings. As more and more Mi-8s land, at least one more wave of troops arrives to total the number of Russians on the airfield to around 300 men which allow the invaders to continue their advance. They move cautiously through the administrative buildings towards the Flight Control Tower. First on-ground contact

with Russian troops happens when the commander of the company of Ukrainian troops drives through the crossroad near the Control Tower. His armored vehicle is hit by the grenade launcher but the grenade miraculously does not penetrate and he is forced to make a full circle under enemy fire around the hangar under the enemy fire to return back to its forces. Most Russian troops meet face-to-face with defenders here and the fight begins for almost two hours. A considerable number of Ukrainian forc

es also were protecting the base of the National Guard, including firefighters who damage multiple Russian helicopters with machinegun and rifle fire. Nevertheless, Ukraine National Guard groups have to retreat into the city through their base as they are outnumbered and short of ammunition. As of 1 pm, the total area of the Hostomel Airport falls into the hands of Russians. Even after taking into account heavy casualties, the assault seems to be a victory and Russian troops raise their flag on

the main administrative building. Little do they know that the real fight is not yet begun. If we look at the bigger picture, many sources explain such focus on Hostomel with the Russian desire to quickly take Kyiv and overthrow the government, preventing further organized resistance. For this reason, it was necessary to quickly transfer at least a thousand airborne troops to the city’s doorstep. However, the land invasion through the shortest path from Belarus is an unfavorable scenario as inva

ding forces would be easily caught up in the fights in the North of Ukraine and even in case of breaching, could still be subject to multiple ambushes on their way. Instead, the Russian military command decided to clear Hostomel with a helicopter attack, deploy around a battalion of airborne troops and then create an airbridge between captured Hostomel and Pskov. This explanation is proposed by Christo Grozev, a head of the international group of investigative journalists Bellingcat, who announc

ed that 18 Russian transport aircraft Il-76 fly from Pskov to Kyiv directly as Russian forces gain a foothold in Hostomel airport. Capable of carrying over a thousand troops in total and even light armored vehicles, they planned to arrive in Hostomel which is the most suitable airport near Kyiv for such heavy planes to land on. In case of success, over a thousand men with light armored vehicles deployed right near the capital would put Kyiv in serious danger. However, the Russian military comman

d failed to predict how events will unravel. Due to fierce resistance, the helicopter groups not only take significant losses but also waste precious time, circling around without a chance to land. As lightly armed infantry of the Ukrainian 4th Special Rapid Reaction Brigade and other units that initially protected the airport slowly retreat under the pressure of incoming waves of Russians, they gave time for forces of the 72nd separate mechanized, 80th, and 95th separate airborne assault brigad

es to deploy and encircle Hostomel airport. While Ukrainian light airborne brigades arrive quickly from Zhytomyr on transport helicopters, the 72nd mechanized brigade has to move their heavy tanks and artillery over 100 km from their base in Bila Tserkva. Therefore, the time factor was critical in this situation. As Russian forces do not advance further and most likely have strict order to guard the airport until the main forces arrive on strategic air lifters, there is a brief pause in the figh

ting. This allows Ukrainians to bring artillery into positions to support the counterattack. At 3:30 pm, the president of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky in his address to the nation declares that the encirclement of the Hostomel airport is complete and gives the order to clear the area. Approximately at the same time, the artillery of the Armed Forces and the National Guard as well as Ukrainian Su-24 bombers attacks the airport with shells and bombs. Ukrainian military command correctly predicts the

Russian plans and the idea behind an intense artillery barrage and airstrikes is to damage the airstrip beyond repair. Furthermore, Ukrainian land forces start to advance from multiple directions with close air support of Mi-24 helicopters with unguided rockets on board. It is also worth mentioning that active assistance in counterattack was provided by the Georgian legion, a military unit formed by mostly ethnic Georgian volunteers fighting on the side of Ukraine since 2014. As a result of a f

ierce fight, Russians sustain heavy casualties and are forced to desert in the fields and forests around the airport. As of 9 pm, Hostomel airport is under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces which marks their most significant victory on the first day of the full-scale invasion. Russian military command has to abort the mission of delivering more forces to the area by air and all the planes which departed from Pskov land in Belarus. Looking at the bigger picture, the situation still remain

ed pretty dangerous for Ukrainians. During the intense fighting for the airport earlier this day, Russians crossed the border from Belarus territory and quickly traversed through the radioactive Chornobyl Exclusion Zone where Ukrainian forces did not have any defensive lines. During the night of February 24th and morning of February 25th, a large number of Russian troops and heavy armor arrived on the outskirts of Hostomel, and the fight for the airport turned into a battle for the whole town. S

uch a fast advance through the North of Ukraine was a success on the tactical level but a failure on the operational one. As time passed, it becomes clear that Russians cannot supply their forces near Kyiv for an effective advance into the city since they only secured individual roads in their rapid advance, not key towns that had the potential to become forward operating bases. On February 25th however, Ukrainians are forced to retreat from Hostomel airport under the pressure of several Russian

battalion tactical groups. To prevent any further attempts to establish an airbridge, Ukrainian artillery again launches heavy shelling of the area that completely demolishes the Anotonov Airport airstrip and causes massive casualties among Russian units on the territory of the airfield, which further slows down invading forces. As of March 5th, the town of Hostomel fell into the hands of Russians but no further advance was made. Ukrainian forces carried out attempts to counterattack and even h

ad partial success on March 16. On April 1st, 2022, Russian Armed forces left Hostomel as well as the whole north of Ukraine. The decision to retreat is explained by high Russian casualties, poor logistics, and an overall lack of progress in taking control of Kyiv due to the effective resistance of Ukrainian Forces in the area. In conclusion, the battle for Hostomel airport became the first one in a sequence of disastrous defeats during Russian attempts to conquer Ukraine in a fast-paced manner.

The whole operation counted on the complete absence of resistance. Ukrainian troops and command, however, used an agile approach and had remarkable communication and planning which allowed them to mitigate multiple threats. Even though initially, everything went according to Putin’s plan, the defenders of the airport efficiently used little resources they had to maximize the harm to invaders and let more prepared units encircle the strategically important area. The following Ukrainian counterat

tack not only wiped out the elite Russian forces but also ruined the whole plan with the airbridge and fast capital takeover. This forced Russians to attack through forests in the north of Ukraine where their logistics lines were crippled by constant ambushes. Therefore, the battle for Hostomel Airport defined further military operations in the area and, most likely, was one of the reasons why Russia had to withdraw from the North of Ukraine in April. During the battle, heavy damage was inflicte

d on the largest plane in the world, the An-225 “Mria”, which was under maintenance in one of the hangars. Practically destroyed, the plane whose name is “Dream” in Ukrainian, became one of the numerous symbols of the war.