According to the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) chief, Lt Gen General Kyrylo Budanov, his team received information about Russia's plan to seize the Antonov airfield on February 24, 2022, and land thousands of its soldiers there to capture Kyiv from a reliable informant.
A Battle for Gostomel: How Ukrainian soldiers and scouts saved Kyiv
According to the DIU, the German publication ZEIT ONLINE developed a detailed reconstruction of the battle for the airfield in Gostomel on the first day of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation.
This was possible thanks to the dozens of testimonies of the participants in the battle for Kyiv.
In an interview with journalists, the DIU chief, Lt Gen Kyrylo Budanov, said that intelligence received information about the Russians' plan to capture the Antonov airfield on February 24, 2022 and land thousands of their soldiers there from a reliable informant.
According to the head of Ukrainian intelligence, he sent the best members of his team to defend the airfield.
I saw [the Russian helicopters], and I thought they were very close. I felt fear, but then the adrenaline rushed out, — one of the military intelligence officers told reporters.
Kyrylo Budanov gave Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a detailed report on everything happening in Gostomel.
By the way, the president of Ukraine ordered his soldiers to mercilessly destroy the Russians, not giving them any chance to penetrate Kyiv.
People who see dozens of helicopters firing in their direction are not exactly happy.
Kyrylo Budanov
DIU chief
The battle for Gostomel disrupted Putin's plans
Kyrylo Budanov notes that Ukrainian soldiers and scouts launched the first counterattack against Russian soldiers in the second half of Feb. 24, 2022.
About 80 Russian paratroopers were killed in a matter of hours.
In addition, the airfield's runway was deliberately damaged to prevent Russian military transport planes from landing.
The desperate battle for the airfield in Gostomel disrupted Moscow's blitzkrieg and defeated terrorist Russia's intentions to occupy Kyiv "in three days," the DIU emphasizes.
