Battle of Hostomel | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Kyiv offensive and the Russian invasion of Ukraine | |||||||
Russian casualties and damaged armoured vehicles in the aftermath of the battle on 4 March in Hostomel | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Ukraine | |||||||
Units involved | |||||||
National Guard of Ukraine Contents
HUR MOU [1]
|
The battle of Hostomel was the first major battle in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, [4] fought for control over the town of Hostomel between the Russian and Ukrainian armed forces. As part of the Kyiv offensive, the Russian forces sought control over Hostomel, Bucha and Irpin in order to encircle and besiege the Ukrainian capital city Kyiv from the west. [5] [6] Due to the intensity of the Kyiv offensive, the Kyiv Oblast State Administration named Hostomel, along with Irpin, Bucha, Highway M06, and Vyshhorod as the most dangerous places in Kyiv Oblast. [7]
The Russian plans had been to quickly advance on and attack Kyiv, which would have disrupted command and control by the Ukrainian government. Forces sent were insufficient to capture such a large city unless there was a political collapse. While the Russians were able to capture the airport, they were unable to use it to establish an airbridge. The fighting in and around Hostomel has been described as a decisive moment in the early stages of the invasion. It prevented the Russians from quickly taking control of Ukraine. Having failed to achieve their operational objective, Russian forces not only withdrew from Hostomel but from all of Kyiv Oblast at the start of April during the peace negotiations which Putin claimed was as gesture. [8] [9] [10]
On 24 February 2022, Russian airborne forces arrived via helicopters and battled Ukrainian forces for control of the Hostomel Airport. Ukrainian forces initially evicted the Russian airborne troops from the airport, but were soon engaged by Russian reinforcements. On 25 February 2022, the Russian forces re-captured the Hostomel Airport from the Ukrainians. As a result, the battle shifted from the airport to the nearby town as the Russian forces began to establish a foothold in Hostomel and press their advance. [11] [12]
Following the battle of the airport, Ukrainian and Russian ground forces began to engage each other in and around Hostomel later. [12] Videos posted on social media showed a Russian tank column burning in the outskirts of the town and Ukrainian Mi-24s firing rockets at Russian positions over a residential area. [11] Kadyrovites were reported to have moved into the outskirts of the town or into the airport in preparations to assassinate the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Security Service of Ukraine reported that the Kadyrovites convoy consisted of over 250 pieces of equipment and more than 1,500 of the "best fighters of the Chechen Republic". Ukrainian intelligence stated they received these reports from elements of the FSB who oppose the invasion. [13] [14]
On 26 February 2022, acting on the earlier intelligence report, Ukrainian forces intercepted and destroyed a Chechen strike group tasked with assassinating President Zelenskyy. Elsewhere, Ukrainian UAVs spotted two locations near Hostomel where the Chechen fighters were assembling. The Ukrainian National Guard and Alpha Group later attacked those locations, destroying a column of Russian armored vehicles in the process. The Ukrainians claimed to have destroyed 56 tanks in the convoy and to have killed hundreds of Chechen fighters in these attacks. [15] Also, according to Ukrainian officials, Magomed Tushayev, a Chechen Lieutenant Colonel and head of the 141st Motorized Regiment of the National Guard of Russia, was killed during the attack. [13] [14] [16] [17] [18] Ukrainian forces reported that the Kadyrovites sustained heavy casualties as a result of these attacks. [13] [14] By 28 February 2022, the Ukrainians had reported that several hundred Chechen fighters had died in Hostomel so far. [19]
Residents of Hostomel reported constant shelling and airstrikes by Russian forces had deprived them of water, food, electricity, and medicine. The constant bombardment also prevented the residents from receiving humanitarian aid, evacuating from the town, or even removing corpses from the street. Kadyrovites were reported operating closer to the Hostomel Airport and were robbing residents, while Russian soldiers were pressing their advance into Hostomel. Eyewitnesses reported Russian soldiers firing on an ambulance. [20]
On 3 March 2022, Ukrainian forces engaged Russian forces in urban combat inside Hostomel. [21] [22] The Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (GUR MO) reported that special forces under their command and local resistance had destroyed 20 Russian BMDs (likely BMD-2 and/or BMD-4) in Hostomel. Ten of the BMDs were destroyed at 18:30 (6:30 p.m.) near the town's glass factory. [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] The Russian forces were ultimately repelled from the town. A video published on social media depicting the aftermath of the urban battle showed destroyed and abandoned Russian vehicles and dead Russian soldiers sprawled across the streets. [21] [22] A Ukrainian sniper killed Major general Andrei Sukhovetsky either in Hostomel or at the Hostomel Airport. He was the deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army. [28] [29]
On 4 March 2022, Ukrainian forces engaged Russian forces in the streets a second time, reportedly destroying a BMD and bombarding Russian forces with BM-21 Grad rockets. [30] Elsewhere in Hostomel, Ukrainian soldiers defeated a unit of Kadyrovites, seizing their weapons, equipment, and armored vehicle. [31] Ukrainian forces later reported to have regained control of Hostomel from the Russian forces. Ukrainian intelligence reported that the Russian 31st Guards Air Assault Brigade suffered at least 50 dead from the battles in Hostomel. Special forces under the GUR MO, the 3rd Special Purpose Regiment, and local resistance fighters were reported to have taken part in the battle. Russian weapons, equipment, and staff and personal documents were seized by the Ukrainian military, with any usable weapons being redistributed to the local resistance. The GUR MO reported that the deceased Russian soldiers did not possess any identification documents; only vaccination certifications and blank medical books. [1] On the same day, Ukrainian forces reported that Major Valeriy Chybineyev was killed near the Hostomel Airport. [1] [32] Russian forces, reportedly the 31st Guards Air Assault Brigade, later returned into Hostomel and occupied a residential complex, taking 40 or more residents hostage. [33] [34] [35]
Ukrainian journalist Ruslan Vinichenko recounted being held captive by Russian forces beginning on 4 March in an apartment basement with 60 others, while 90 were held in a neighboring building. The soldiers confiscated phones, looted apartments, and spread false information about the war. Residents could only leave the basement to smoke or collect water. On March 10, the soldiers announced plans to move the residents to Belarus. Vinichenko and his girlfriend escaped when a motorist picked them up, with three Russian soldiers observing but not intervening. [36]
On 5 March 2022, Russian forces captured Hostomel and prevented civilians from evacuating the town. [37] [38] [39]
On 7 March 2022, the mayor of Hostomel, Yuriy Prylypko, along with several other volunteers, were killed by Russian troops while distributing food and medicine to residents. [40] His body was reportedly booby trapped by Russian forces. When the local priest came to pick up his body, a sympathetic Russian soldier stopped the priest from getting close, disarmed the trap, and helped load the mayor's body onto a wheelbarrow to be transported away. Yuriy was buried near the local church with honors. [41] At some point, Ukrainian forces recaptured some parts of Hostomel. Russian forces responded by deploying two Battalion tactical groups to Hostomel in preparations for an offensive. [42]
On 8 March 2022, Ukrainian forces repelled a Russian night offensive in Hostomel. It was announced that Ukrainian forces were preparing a large-scale evacuation and humanitarian aid delivery for the residents of Hostomel. [43] The next day, Ukrainian forces conducted a large-scale evacuation across Kyiv Oblast, including in Hostomel. Up to 20,000 civilians were evacuated in the Kyiv Oblast. The evacuation continued into the next day. [44]
On 11 March 2022, residents reported that Russian forces controlled most of Hostomel, making it extremely difficult for civilians to evacuate from the town or receive humanitarian aid. Russian military equipment were moved to the town center and residential areas, while Russian supplies were being delivered via helicopters. Eyewitnesses also reported Kadyrovites roaming around Hostomel and executing civilians for trivial reasons. [45] Still, buses were able to successfully evacuate from the town on 12 March 2022. [46]
On 13 March 2022, Ukrainian forces attacked Russian forces attempting to cross a river outside Hostomel using a pontoon bridge. The bridge and several Russian vehicles were destroyed. [47] [48]
On 14 March 2022, Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic, claimed to have entered Hostomel. The claim could not be verified at the time of announcement but was met with doubt due to his announcement being broadcast by Russian state medias. Presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych also doubted Kadyrov's claim due to information of Kadyrov being seen in Grozny the day before his announcement. [49] During the day, two civilian evacuations were carried in Hostomel. The first column of 10 buses successfully evacuated mothers, children, the elderly, and the disabled out of Hostomel. The second column of four buses were shelled by Russian mortars. One woman was killed and two men were injured from the attack. [50] [51]
On 16 March 2022, Ukrainian forces launched a series of counter-offensives against Russian forces around Kyiv, including some villages near Hostomel. According to Andriy Nebitov, the head of the Kyiv region police, Ukrainian forces were able to break through Russian positions after conducting artillery strikes. He further claimed the counterattack disrupted the Russian forces' plan to attack Kyiv directly. [52] [53]
On 1 April 2022, Oleksandr Pavlyuk, the head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, claimed that Russian forces had left Hostomel. [54] On 2 April 2022, the whole of Kyiv Oblast, where Hostomel is located in, was declared free of Russian Military by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense after Russian troops had left the area. [55] The withdrawal of the last Russian forces from Kyiv Oblast was confirmed on 6 April. [56] [8]
On 28 September 2022, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and National Police of Ukraine published CCTV footage showing OMON and Rosgvardiya soldiers shooting at civilians in Hostomel during the battle. [57] [58] [59]
In April 2023, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov stated that prior to the invasion, he was supposed to go to an MoD command post located in Hostomel, but the plans were cancelled and his team was not captured. [60]
Antonov Airport, also known as HostomelAirport, is an international cargo airport and testing facility in Ukraine, located near Hostomel, which is a northwestern suburb of Kyiv.
Hostomel is a rural settlement in Bucha Raion, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. It is located northwest of the capital Kyiv. It hosts the administration of Hostomel settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: 18,466.
The 141st Special Motorized Regiment, colloquially known as the Kadyrovites or the Akhmat special forces unit, is a paramilitary organization in Chechnya, Russia, that serves as the protection of the Head of the Chechen Republic. The term Kadyrovtsy is commonly used in Chechnya to refer to any armed, ethnically-Chechen men under the control of Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov, although nominally they are under the umbrella of the National Guard of Russia. As of 2023, the regiment's official commander was Adam Delimkhanov, a close ally of Kadyrov.
The 31st Separate Guards Order of Kutuzov 2nd class Air Assault Brigade is an airborne infantry brigade of the Russian Airborne Troops, based in Ulyanovsk. The brigade was formed in 1998 from the 104th Guards Airborne Division. The brigade fought in the Second Chechen War and the Russo-Georgian War. During the annexation of Crimea elements of the brigade entered Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. In August 2014 brigade's units participated in the war in Donbas. The brigade fought in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, beginning with the Battle of Antonov Airport where they sustained heavy losses.
The Battle of Antonov Airport, also known as the battle of Hostomel Airport, was a military engagement which occurred at the Antonov Airport in Hostomel, Kyiv Oblast, during the Kyiv offensive of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The battle of Kharkiv was a military engagement that took place from February to May 2022 in and around the city of Kharkiv in Ukraine, as part of the eastern Ukraine offensive during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Kharkiv, located just 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of the Russia–Ukraine border and a predominately Russian-speaking city, is the second-largest city in Ukraine and was considered a major target for the Russian military early in the invasion.
The northern Ukraine campaign was a theater of operation in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It involved attacks by Russia across the Russo-Ukrainian and Belarusian–Ukrainian borders, beginning on 24 February 2022, for control of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, and the surrounding areas of Kyiv Oblast and northern regions Zhytomyr Oblast, Sumy Oblast, and Chernihiv Oblast. Kyiv is the seat of the Ukrainian government and the headquarters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The battle of Kyiv was part of the Kyiv offensive in the Russian invasion of Ukraine for control of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine, and surrounding districts including Hostomel Airport. The combatants were elements of the Russian Armed Forces and Ukrainian Armed Forces. The battle lasted from 25 February 2022 to 2 April 2022 and ended with the withdrawal of Russian forces.
The siege of Mariupol began on 24 February 2022 and lasted until 20 May, as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It saw fighting between the Russian Armed Forces and the Ukrainian Armed Forces for control over the city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine. Lasting for almost three months, the siege ended in a victory for Russia and the Donetsk People's Republic, as Ukraine lost control of the city amidst Russia's eastern Ukraine offensive and southern Ukraine offensive; all Ukrainian troops remaining in the city surrendered at the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works on 20 May 2022, after they were ordered to cease fighting.
Andrei Aleksandrovich Sukhovetsky was a Russian Airborne Forces major general. He was killed in action during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Sukhovetsky's last assignment was as deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army, a Russian Ground Forces command participating in the invasion of Ukraine. Conflicting reports of the place of his death have arisen, though his death itself is regarded as confirmed.
Valeriy Viktorovych Chybineyev was a Ukrainian sniper who served as commander of the sniper company of the 79th Air Assault Brigade. He fought in the war in Donbas and was awarded the Order of the Gold Star in 2016 for his actions during a combat mission in Avdiivka. On his 34th birthday, Chybineyev was killed in the Battle of Hostomel during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The battle of Bucha was part of the Kyiv offensive in the Russian invasion of Ukraine for control of the city of Bucha. The combatants were elements of the Russian Armed Forces and Ukrainian Ground Forces. The battle lasted from 27 February to 31 March 2022 and ended with the withdrawal of Russian forces. The battle was part of a larger tactic to encircle Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine.
The battle of Irpin was part of the Kyiv offensive in the Russian invasion of Ukraine for control of the city of Irpin. The combatants were elements of the Russian Armed Forces and Ukrainian Ground Forces. The battle lasted from 27 February 2022 to 28 March 2022 and ended with Ukrainian forces recapturing the city.
The Chechen Republic, commonly known as Chechnya, is a federal republic of Russia that has been noted in several roles during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Kadyrovite forces have fought alongside the Russian forces, while several Chechen armed volunteer formations are fighting on the Ukrainian side. International observers have noted a number of comparisons between the invasion and the First and Second Chechen Wars.
Hero City of Ukraine is a Ukrainian honorary title awarded for outstanding heroism during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was awarded to ten cities in March 2022, in addition to four already-named Hero Cities of the Soviet Union. This symbolic distinction for a city corresponds to the distinction of Hero of Ukraine awarded to individuals.
The battle of Izium was a military engagement between Russia and Ukraine that occurred as part of the eastern Ukraine offensive during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The battle started in March 2022 for control of the town of Izium due to the town's importance as a transportation node. The Russian military wanted to capture Izium so its forces in Kharkiv Oblast could link up with their troops in the Donbas region.
Magomed Salaudinovich Tushayev is a Russian Lieutenant Colonel and advisor to the Head of the Chechen Republic. He was a commander of the 141st Special Motorized Regiment (Kadyrovites).
The battle of Sievierodonetsk was a military engagement in the wider battle of Donbas of the eastern Ukraine campaign during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The battle of Makariv was a military engagement in the town of Makariv in Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The battle lasted from 27 February 2022 to 25 March 2022, the last day that fighting was reported in Makariv. Shelling of the town continued until 31 March, and the Makariv settlement hromada was fully liberated the next day, on 1 April.
This timeline of the Russian invasion of Ukraine covers the period from 24 February 2022, when Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine, to 7 April 2022 when fighting focused away from the north and towards the south and east of Ukraine.