The general told the details of the defense of the Kyiv airport from the Russian landing in the first days of the war
General of the Ukrainian army Serhiy Krivonos, who commanded the defense of Kyiv (Zhulyani) airport for 39 days at the beginning of this phase of the Russian-Ukrainian war, in an interview on Mark Solonin’s YouTube channel, described the details of the actions at the airfield.
The importance of Zhulyan is explained by the fact that it is the only airport within the capital. If the airport was captured by the Russian military, it would allow them to get to the center of Kyiv.
According to Kryvonos, he arrived in Zhulyany on February 25, where he saw a ‘wild bunch’ of various security forces: border guards, officers and soldiers of the National Guard, a small number of military personnel.
‘The answer to my question, what are we doing, is that we are waiting for the landing of the Russian landing force. What are we doing? We don’t do anything. We are waiting,’ – Kryvonos quoted the dialogue between the military.
According to the general, since there was no senior in place, he took command of the airport’s defense.
‘Due to the specifics of his previous service in the special forces, he knew how an airfield was taken over, so he knew how to prevent this takeover. […] I had a successful experience in the defense of airfields. In 2014, he defended the Kramatorsk airfield for 47 days,’ Kryvonos said.
According to him, at first, the military blocked the lane and replaced it. After that, they arranged engineering structures and created a fire system.
The general finished commanding the defense in Zhulyany at the beginning of April, when the Russian troops retreated from Kyiv, and the threat of an enemy landing was removed.
Earlier, Kryvonos also said that the airport was saved not only from the enemy, but also from looters: ‘The airport was not looted or smashed, ATMs were not opened.’ At another airport in Kyiv – Boryspil, the Russian landing was also prevented, but they could not protect the airfield without looting, evidence of which was published on Telegram channels in the first days of the invasion.
