HOSTOMEL, UKRAINE — The battle of Hostomel’s airport, also called Antonov Airport, started on the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The airport is situated on the northwestern side of Kyiv, and it is clear that the Russian military saw it as a very strategic asset — a platform it could use to airlift thousands of troops and equipment. From Hostomel, these airlifted forces would be within a stone’s throw of Ukraine’s capital.
First-hand accounts of what happened on that day now explain why Russia could never make use of the airport, and why Russian forces had to retreat from the area after weeks of fighting.
SOURCES: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times
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