The operation seemed impossible: the military told about air aid to the defenders of Azovstal
In Mariupol, the defenders of the Azovstal factory were under siege by the Russian army for a long time. Ukrainian fighters lacked food, medicine and ammunition to fight Russian troops, and the number of severely wounded soldiers increased almost every hour.
According to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Central Intelligence Agency has prepared a plan to provide assistance to the fighters. Our scouts planned to use helicopters – experts assessed this as a very risky step.
– The importance of the first flight was that many people saw this operation as impossible, so we wanted to show other pilots and the military that it is possible, – said a representative of the Central Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine with the call sign Flint.
All participants in the special operation were fully aware of its danger, he stressed. In order to load more payload for Azovstal defenders, helicopters were stripped of weapons to reduce weight. As it was impossible to completely conceal the operation, Ukrainian specialists decided to deceive the enemy.
Due to significant risks, several pilots did not want to participate in the operation. However, the first pilot who agreed wanted to save his wife. She was a combat medic at Azovstal and worked with severely wounded soldiers.
– Getting to Azovstal was not easy. Fast and low flying over terrain with mountains and obstacles such as trees and telephone wires required great skill of the pilot. In some cases, flights were carried out at night with the help of night vision devices, which required pilots to have the appropriate experience of using them, – said the Ministry of Defense.
Flint said that later the first arrival of helicopters surprised the fighters on Azovstal. According to him, he realized pride and happiness for his people because they did the impossible.
Flag of Ukraine from Azovstal. Photo: Ministry of Defense
However, subsequent flights became increasingly difficult as Russian troops began firing harder. The pilots tried to change routes to bypass Russia’s air defenses. They flew over the ground or over the water.
– I know of a situation where our helicopter flew between two Russian ships and then turned right and moved over the sea to Ukraine, Flint recalled.
In his opinion, it is necessary to write books and make films about the operations of Ukrainians, especially about the defense of Mariupol. Flint is convinced that these stories will later be told by the children of Azovstal defenders.
