The van carrying the correspondents from Brussels stops at the checkpoint outside Antonov or Hostomel airport, about 20 kilometers from Kyiv. We show our passports and are asked to leave our cell phones in the car.
Aircraft burned, blown to pieces, buildings destroyed. It is where it all began on February 24, 2022. It is now considered one of the best guarded spots.
A little later Volodymyr Zelensky arrives. Armed soldiers form a cordon around him protecting him. He with a mobile phone in his hand in a five-minute video describes Vladimir Putin’s plans by showing images of the flattened airport.
“From here would start the special scenario of the occupation of Kiev and Ukraine within three days” says Zelensky in the video.
There are also the soldiers who fought to liberate Hostomel.
Ursula von der Leyen, Alexander de Croo, Giorgia Meloni and Justine Trudeau after watching a video of the merciless battle that took place in Hostomel stand on the podium and behind them you can still see the absolute chaos.
On February 24, 2022, Russian forces, paratroopers, helicopters land in Antonov. The goal is to turn it into their base and from there take over Kiev. But they calculated without the Ukrainians. One of the most respected journalists, Vitaly Sayerna of the UNIAN agency, describes to us in those early hours that “Russia wanted to take control of the airport. He sent paratroopers. The Ukrainians responded. It was a bloody battle. The aim of the Russians was to surround the city from different points and the airport was one of them. From the balconies, from the windows they could see the explosions.”
The Americans and in particular the director of the CIA, William Burns, had warned about the plans of the Russians and especially in everything related to this particular airport.
On January 19, 2023, the Washington Post noted that “Burns is a respected figure in Zelensky’s inner circle because of his accurate warning in January 2022 that Russian forces would seek to seize Ukraine’s Antonov airfield in the early stages of its invasion February 24th. His message, delivered in person, was based on a US intelligence assessment and is credited with helping Ukraine prepare to defend the airport.”
From the beginning it was clear that Moscow’s plan had failed. The airport had suffered great damage due to the fierce conflict between Russians and Ukrainians and anyway it would not be able to serve Putin’s desire and goal to be able to enter Kiev victorious. However, it took about a month and a half, until the beginning of April, until the Russians retreated and the airport was once again in Ukrainian hands.
There was also the largest aircraft in the world, Mriya, which in Ukrainian means “dream”. As the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said, “the Russians destroyed the plane. But they could not destroy the dream. The dream of a free and prosperous Ukraine, taking its place at the heart of the European family. Today, the dream lives on.”
With a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes, the An-225 held many records, including the heaviest aircraft ever built and the longest wingspan of any operational aircraft. The Mriya was destroyed on February 27, 2022. Now Volodymyr Zelensky’s dream, as he himself said, is to become the second Antonov to replace it.
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