Ukrainians Mark Donetsk Airport Battle Anniversary

Relatives of a Ukrainian serviceman killed in combat attend a memorial service inside St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv on January 21. 

A woman at a memorial wall outside the monastery to men killed fighting Russia-backed separatists in 2014. The photo was made on January 21 during the anniversary of the end of fighting for the Donetsk airport in 2015, and as fears mount that an all-out invasion of Ukraine by Russia may be imminent. 

Soldiers take part in the memorial in Kyiv on January 21. The service is an annual event in Ukraine and honors the Ukrainian servicemen who died defending the newly constructed Donetsk airport from Russia-backed separatists in 2014-2015.  

A soldier holds a candle during the ceremony. The two major battles for the Donetsk airport were fought between May 2014 and January 2015 during the early days of the war in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region between Russia-backed separatists and the Ukrainian military. 

A May 2014 file photo captures a Ukrainian helicopter gunship firing toward the Donetsk airport. Hundreds of fighters died during fighting for the airport, including dozens of Ukrainian servicemen in a single day on January 20, 2015. 

A Russia-backed separatist patrols the destroyed airport in March 2015. The militants overran Ukrainian positions in the ruined airport on January 22 that year and the Ukrainian survivors were either captured or they fled. 

 

On January 20, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attended a separate ceremony to fallen defenders of Ukraine, including the soldiers killed during the fighting for the Donetsk airport, at a memorial near the headquarters of the Defense Ministry in Kyiv. 

Soldiers fire a volley after the name of a fallen soldier was read out during the January 20 memorial service. 

Servicemen lay flowers at a memorial to those who fell during the fighting in Ukraine's Donbas region. Besides President Zelenskiy, the January 20 service was attended by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, and other senior officials.