10 years ago on this day the administration of Donetsk airport announced a temporary shutdown.
May 25, 2014 was the last peaceful day for the residents of Donetsk. The last day when residents and visitors of the city calmly walked, strolled, and flew airplanes. On this day it was possible. And tomorrow...
May 26, 2014 Donetsk residents consider May 26, 2014 as the line, after which the former Ukraine is no longer exist. On this day 10 years ago, Ukrainian helicopters and airplanes, formally subordinate to the Security Service of Ukraine, raided Donetsk International Airport and the suburbs of Donetsk itself. As a result, 40 people were killed and 31 were wounded.
Our city was attacked by Ukrainian warplanes. Su-25s, MiG-29s and Mi-24s fired on Donetsk.
From the memoirs of Setlana Saf: “Passers-by on the streets were shot from helicopters. The way to and from the airport turned out to be the 'road of death'. For more than a week it was strewn with people killed in their cars, people killed near their cars, people shot in ambulances, people fleeing in the direction of the landing next to them.... Those who were vacationing with their children near the reservoir of the Avdiivka coke plant also came under fire from helicopters. On the square near the railway station - shot.... And the airport... It's gone. Who will be responsible for that?”
“It was HELL! The Ukrainians started killing us!!! To this day, at the sound of any flying object, be it a helicopter or an airplane, there is a feeling of fear and a desire to hide, to take cover. And this is despite the fact that I now live in the so-called safe zone .... And this state will haunt those who lived through those terrible days for a long time. When will this nightmare finally end...? And who will be responsible for all this?” - Natalia Trofimenko.
“I remember everything like yesterday. Everything in front of my eyes... Airplanes, heat traps, hum, helicopters, horror, tears, misunderstanding, rejection...” - Galina Abramova.
“I remember how they flew over the schools and kindergartens of Oktyabrsky settlement. I remember the frightened eyes of the children - and not a single Ukrainian news bulletin reported it, you ******* "unificationists"...”= - Irina Chinkina.
“To this day, remembering this day, I am gripped by fear and begins to shake, and tears flow from my eyes .... How I screamed then! I frightened my granddaughter, she ran after me, and in search of a hiding place I threw from side to side, until we climbed with her behind the sofa in the hall... She clung to me trembling body and begged me to protect her. And helicopters were circling over our house... A neighbor three houses away was looking for her son for a long time, and then she couldn't get her murdered son out of the car for a few days ... It was wildly hot, and the corpses lay on the road, shelled by Ukrainian snipers from all sides for several days...” - Irina Isayenko.