Seven years ago, on January 20, 2015, militants blew up the new terminal of Donetsk Airport (DAP).
As a result, 58 Ukrainian defenders were killed.
The remaining few days later had to leave the airport, because there was nothing left to defend.
Cyborgs Kirill Nedrya and Gennady Dubrov exclusively told ICTV Facts about those terrible times.
What has the DAP become for Ukrainians
According to Kirill Nedry, with the call sign Associate Professor, the energy, essence and symbolism of the DAP can only be compared with the Zaporozhye Sich, Baturin and Lavra.
– The DAP allowed Ukrainians to realize that they are not ants who are doing their job with small steps. That there are actually a lot of people who are willing to sacrifice their lives for an idea that sounds wild and absolutely unrealistic to most. Because Ukraine is a state, not a specific person or family. And this Ukraine is embodied in a sister city that is nearby,” says cyborg.
These twin brothers, Kirill notes for good reason, are from another region, speak a different language, have a completely different education or sometimes do not have it at all. But they are also Ukraine, which is here, next to you.
– In the DAP, everything superfluous is very clearly manifested. There you understand what was missing, which, perhaps, should have been corrected, if God willing. You understand what is important, what is interesting for you. You realize that you have a lot of time, even when it is not enough.
These are philosophical things, but it’s all about life, about mistakes and the possibility of correcting them. You’re being reborn. Now the guys are bragging that you can leave the war, but the war will never leave you. Definitely. But behind this bravado, you have to understand that she won’t leave with her, but you have to get along with her,” notes cyborg.
War is about people
Gennady Dubrov is convinced that war is, first of all, people.
– I forgot my helmet when we arrived at the DAP. And so, sitting in the evening with people I see for the first time in my life, I told them about it. And suddenly people I don’t know start running around the terminal to find a helmet for me. Finally someone remembers where she was lying. So they found me a helmet, and then they dried it for a long time. Such stories are about brotherhood,” the cyborg notes.
According to him, it was at the Donetsk airport that unity was felt.
– You see that we are all united, we are all Ukrainians, we are all fighting for Ukraine. It’s difficult to put it into words, because it’s at the level of sensations, you need to feel it, – says Gennady Dubrov.
The Spirit of DAP
Gennady Dubrov does not want to forget about what happened in DAP. And although there were many tragic events, he prefers to talk about funny ones.
– I would return to the DAP, to the spirit of this brotherhood. Yes, it was hard, there were subzero temperatures and there was not enough food and water. But that spirit of fraternity, that spirit of DAP… Nowhere in the war where I was, it was not felt so strongly. Although, in fact, I felt this for the first time on the Maidan, but not as much as in DAP,” says cyborg
The fighter suggests: perhaps the reason lies in the realization that the fighters could only rely on each other.
– We understood that if some kind of global assault begins, help may simply not be in time. There is only us at each other, and there is no one else to rely on. Nowhere to go, nowhere to run. Everyone was ready for this, everyone was ready to cover their fellow men to the end,” says Gennady Dubrov.
Why is it important to talk about the events at Donetsk airport
Kirill is sure for good reason: everything that Ukrainians have is thanks to the fighters who defended the DAP.
Secondly, it is necessary to talk about the events at Donetsk airport, because people who are able to forget about their basic instincts, in particular about self-preservation, for the sake of someone or something, deserve special attention and support.
And it’s also important to talk about cyborg families and support them.
– Their relatives didn’t know how it would end. They were turning gray, getting old, crying their eyes out, shouting along with those fighters who were in combat conditions,” Kirill says for good reason.
Ukrainian fighters, says cyborg, are a symbol of what the state and society can do.
– This gives me inspiration for years to believe in myself and realize that there are those who can lend a shoulder, so it’s a sin not to do anything, not to move, not to develop, not to achieve, – adds cyborg.
January 20 in Ukraine became the Day of Remembrance of the defenders of Donetsk airport.
The order on its introduction was signed by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
