[000:00:00;00] anti-aircraft missile complex tor zone of impact at a range from 500 m to 12 km zone of impact at a height of up to 6 km ammunition - 8 missiles at that time i knew that e-e avoidances are e-e viewfinder armor all e-e units have manpads and also rifle weapons anti-aircraft missile gun complex spencer zone of defeat at a range of one to 20 km zone of impact at a height of 150 m to 15 km without a reserve of 12 missiles and 1400 shells fierce battles continued in the city itself nothing was known about

the landing sites in such conditions even to fly there in one direction seemed like pure suicide, and to return back unharmed and the roof was ready, i could no longer refuse and did not want and could not go to my navigator, to igor, he watered the cows, i take a cigarette there on the street he did not know anything about it, i tell him igor, will you go with me to mariupol, and he is like that, and i will go somewhere under such a handsome man, handsome igor, give me, i definitely did not hesitate, i did not understand that we would fly straight there in mariupol, because i was then working for my 24, this is an attack helicopter, and here somehow it

happened immediately and on the mi-8 and straight there i think we are going we are getting ready to work there as an attack helicopter, the strike is not a couple of it, unlike air strikes on enemy targets, this time , on the contrary, it was necessary to slip through the enemy's battle formations as quickly as possible and preferably unnoticed by the navigator igor fell to a more responsible preparatory work to carefully calculate the route of the first flight from it depended on whether it would become a one-way ticket, i was given a card with points, i brought them all to myself , there were 48 and i was right before landing at the site . i also needed to calculate the fuel time control points on the flight route the helicopters received from the military scouts in the management, well, the reconnaissance control was continuously monitoring all the movements of the mobile

anti-aircraft missile systems and the state of defense in this particular area that was planned for the flight, so this situation was very lively in numbers that eh, our first flight took almost a day, and the situation along the route accordingly changed depending on the movement of the magnificent forces eh 8 leadership conducted a certain intelligence training our route was carefully calculated , well, we know now , but at the time we thought it was some kind of bullshit. to be honest, the intelligence said that there would be the least opposition from the enemy . here is the commander of this kirill

alekseevich directly in his office . it was an ordinary car with regular armor , that’s the only thing that you know about this gur specialist who flew, they had additional machine guns and that’s all with us in the middle of the miscids, the hurets. i tell him, you know how to shoot, when we are there, he says so. well, if it is necessary to shoot a lot there , the point is that if the situation would be so that we would be asked to shoot, our task was to open fire in response

we have cover because they were flying on the sides, they had all their weapons removed, and all their weapons were only on-board machine guns and small arms, which were task number one - this is, of course, the activity of an on-board gunner, but here is task two - this is the real presence of special-purpose officers inside the aircraft added confidence in the actions of the pilot, who were guarded without understanding what was inside, well, our guys were not ready to carry out such risky maneuvers, everyone understood that when our officers are inside , even when they are shot down enough there is a high chance that they will be able to take them somewhere in case of a fall or landing of helicopters on enemy territory, all gourmets would be the last hope of those who might be able

to survive on board by some miracle or fall helicopter. our main task was to take out the crew. the crew of the helicopter will keep them and take them to the territory under the control of ukraine. moreover, for this purpose, we left all our documents for passports . every day from the middle of march for the defenders of mariupol was somehow the last. they fought the enemy on death and were waiting for only one thing about them, someone would break through and maybe help with something, so the departure time of the first pair of helicopters was steadily approaching, which means it was scary even before the flight, then we were expecting

the departure, it was delayed, but we did not sleep. i personally couldn't sleep, and the people around me knew about our flight , you know it's very unpleasant to walk, people say hello to you, but he looks at you like a dead person, i already have such a memory, i probably won't forget it before takeoff, eh, the commander who was at the airport approached to us and began to hug me, i say why are you saying goodbye like that, i'll be back, everyone understood that the task was probably one of the most vivid operations, then the night of march 21 came , the last preparations were behind, two tons of payload were placed all over

the landing compartment of the rotorcraft, the first to take off the couple decided, still quietly until dawn, the most difficult thing was probably to launch and tear off the helicopter, when they had already taken off, such a familiar operating mode was already turned on and there was no such fear or trembling somewhere, he was there, deep in his soul, two mi-8 helicopters took off from the dnipro airport and took a course to the southeast in the direction of the city of pologa in the zaporizhzhia region and further to the donetsk region through the front line, then along the coast of the sea of ​​azov straight to the burning mariupol 38 minutes to the front line 42 minutes to azovstal as now

i will remember for the rest of my life after crossing the front line for the pilots, every second of the flight stretched into minutes, every minute into an hour, everyone understood that if they were seen by the enemy's air defense systems, it is unlikely that anything could save them, there is always a chance, but you need to understand that our equipment is still after all, this is a transport helicopter, it is not armored enough to protect against heat traps, they are designed for a few minutes of combat . that is, they could not be enough in any case . but in general, all these flights are a bare fart not to rely on a bare fart and increase such meager chances, the helicopters flew at high maximum speed but at low minimum altitude. i looked only at the height

and ahead so as not to crash anywhere, since we had games 5-7 m 3 4 as it happened well, one wheel once we hit the vali tree, that's how they call it flying at criminally low altitudes. that's right, that is, flying at such altitudes is, as we say, the next low altitudes, but the risk of being hit by the enemy's means is much higher than the risk of crashing into the ground of such a height, that is why we choose the height of the aviation helicopter breakthrough on azovstal, bombarded by the enemy, mariupol from the very beginning

seemed like a suicide mission , never before in the history of army aviation has anyone made such deep rows of more than 100 km into accustomed enemy territory and at the same time under the conditions of active multi-pronged anti-aircraft of the enemy's defenses, but the command of the main intelligence department of the ministry of defense somehow planned this operation and clearly understood that it was necessary to remove the wounded from the garrison with heroic defenders mariupol and deliver them all the necessary communications, ammunition, and weapons so that they could hold out as long as possible . meanwhile, in mariupol itself, real hell on earth was breaking out more and more

. to be honest, absolutely no one believed that it was even our helicopters, that is , when we started the sound of helicopters, when we were already expecting it, we thought that it was an enemy helicopter, because at first the operation of no ukrainian aviation did not work over mariupol, and accordingly, we did not believe until the last that, in principle, the heteros would fly to us, not that they would still deliver something there, which they would pick up when our helicopters flew closer . the navigator igor was especially impressed by the aerial view of this mutilated and wounded place there were words. everything is burning, but there is smoke all around. well, it was very scary. i did not expect that it would all be like this. the pilots had the last serious obstacle ahead of them, the highest on the lep route - a power line near

the seashore at a height of 30-40 m. it is necessary. it was quick to jump over and that means becoming more visible for injuries this was the most critical episode of the flight and this lion we jumped over in this order we saw her i say to igor this is her igor they say yes this is her and here we went like this two three times quickly, quickly, and just compared, and at once, i saw myself and i put the helicopter down like that, i went to the ground like that, and when we were already near the ground, leveled off, and nothing flew to us, then i had the first such, the first ray of hope that is possible in

everything would work out for us, but we still had to find a place to land on the azovstal itself. the last few kilometers were already over the sea, almost touching the water with the wheels . the most important thing was to bypass this city. we entered from the sea, because of the smoke, if we went through the city , we would not passed, and we understand that if cigarettes are around in the city, then there is a fight , let's say so, we entered their back entrance and made a helicopter landing, we had to sit not on prepared flat and safe places , but on some construction sites in the middle surrounded by sand, slag and garbage near giant cranes and industrial structures, the entire cargo cabin was completely filled with ammunition, there were stalins and medicines , so everything was tied with clevis

fasteners with ropes, as if everything was cut and they started like that, everything didn't have to be explained to anyone. it just happened in the chain and everything was thrown away, thrown away, such a period of time, how would it happen, time flows very quickly, but i think that this is no more than 12 minutes at most, the helicopters did not jam the engines. in the event that the starlink satellite internet, which brought the first turntables, then provided the garrison with stable communication throughout the heroic defense, and the old women gave the opportunity to broadcast it all to the outside world, that is, the world saw the old history thanks to the pages and the internet. if they did not exist, this story is simply i left it to myself. maybe you are someone , then a guy brings a prisoner, they would have told her, but it was not in such details

as far as information as it was thanks to the internet, which gave pages and delivered at the same time, with modern foreign anti-tank systems, the defenders of mariupol successfully burned the enemy armored vehicles on the streets of the city, destroyed them when we were still aiming for the goal, sat down and the guys loaded those weapons, eh , i started to get out of adrenaline on the way , there was such a euphoria, i was there laughing and muttering to myself then i realized that something is wrong, i'm not like that, i'm like that, oh , my friend, quietly, we haven't returned yet , let's work, loading eight wounded , especially two heavy ones on stretchers, took much longer than the unloading of property, if in

for a moment, at least one enemy mine flew to the landing site, the turntables might not even rise at all, the mail to the enemy says that in most cases they work because the enemy is not ready for such an impudence and - and because we can do it at all there was something new that there is still some ukrainian aviation, we well remember all the statements of the russian authorities that the entire ukrainian aviation was already destroyed on the first day of the war and no one flies anymore and they are already ruling over everything there and here also mariupol, and therefore they did not expect until the last that this could be such an operation if any helicopters from the territory of ukraine could fly to mariupol, it was also such a big surprise for them when the ice of alexei and igor rose in the air and began to gain speed, they urgently had to sit down again after one wounded person and while they turned around sat down and took away something would have caught and damaged all three blades of the rudder propeller, the tails noticed it

only later, and at the same time thurman suggested that the commander quickly take a course for the sea. i saw that there is a fog in the sea, the wind was going from the city to the sea and all the black smoke, all the smog was going to the sea, that is, i turned away to the sea because i know that they will not see me there. that is, i can creakly come for the first evacuated wounded and helicopters and special forces of military intelligence became real angels saviors hell 's roller coaster maximum speed minimum heights and i well remember the moment when we got into the gas station in zaporizhia, i will not believe it someone needs help there, we are definitely in zaporizhzhia, we didn't quite believe that we were the same pilots and special forces in the sky, we became a coordinated combat team, here we were

practically strangers, but we understood each other. the burgtechnika understood us, me or igor, just our gestures, we understood everything perfectly, guys , well done, all the teams did all their work, but also i understand that these were very valuable specialists, valuable specialists gur major and the lieutenant colonel, well, one of these guys provided us with communication. he had a very good walkie-talkie, because i'm sorry , there was absolutely no communication in that area, and we were afraid to go on the air with our regular means . you're so good, you're on the verge of

жизнью смертю well, a lot happens in general quickly, only after crossing the front line at the refueling station in the zaporizhzhia region at the so-called jumping airfield, everyone realized by some miracle they did it, both helicopters want to be damaged but this one flew back bullet holes mandatory we didn't have it, the front wheel was a little scratched because we hit a tree, it seems there was still a bird there, yes, ihor had a bird in the engine, they caught a bird in the engine, but it didn't stand up well. and here's a damaged steering wheel up to two sides near the ground in the city, our other limburg, because i have all this trace, in general, you can see the male joy, there were guys who from the native team had met, had already completed the assigned combat task, no one could er-er bring

arguments that this is impossible and that this is er-er unreal when in practice everyone saw that it it's real. let's just say that everyone took a breath of self-confidence and then it was a little easier. in general, there was no opposition in the first flight. as we planned, they didn't even understand what happened. the successful first flight on march 21 opened this risky air bridge from a large land to surrounded mariupol. it is clear that it is possible and necessary to fly there, even though this region is dangerous . but the enemy already knew about it, so he watched the sky more carefully and tightened the circle against air defense. we understood that

there is a very big risk that we will have more sure wait where we will go we understood that sooner or later one of us will not return we knew this we were taking this risk each of the pilots had to fly to mariupol only once in this way the army aviation command took care of the crews took off returned rest now it is the turn of others to risk their lives kirill had to fly on the fourth mission on board his turntable, in addition to one and a half cargo, there were eight more fighters, military intelligence decided to reinforce the garrison of defenders with a landing of azov dnipro u-u upon arriving there, i actually saw the commanders of the azov regiment, whom i actually knew, as well as the employees of the main intelligence department , who actually explained to me the task that our task is that you go directly to the city of mariupol and in the city of mariupol

to carry out the destruction of important enemy targets immediately there was a message that , most likely, it would not be possible to evacuate or take us out of there so that they would not be seen and shot down . helicopter skill appeared such a plowed field, it 's very, very bad. you can see him in glasses for a moment , uh , there 's another bulgarian. went very, very slowly in the fourth flight, a couple of helicopters landed no longer at the azovstal. and in the mariupol sea port, because the previous landing sites were at the factory where

ours had already arrived three times, then mercilessly smashed the enemy, we unloaded, and the unloading time there was somewhere around five minutes, and this as eternity eternity, everyone is doing something, throwing, throwing away, the propellers are working, everything is working, and you look there to the right, to the right of you, there were tall houses, and you look at them like that and think that no one was sitting there so that nothing would fly into you then on march 28, the rotorcraft of the fourth flight as and the first three were lucky to return, but the next fifth sortie already brought bitter losses. then there was a fifth e-e , they shot

down one and in the sixth they did. and he fell on that territory which the enemy counterattacked the helicopter that followed the second helicopter, it was also shot down by three cars, three, three, but miracles happen in war , one of the helicopters of the fifth flight was hit by an enemy missile, but it did not explode for sure. i was lucky because the missile that was supposed to detonate simply did not explode. it just punched the engine, made a big hole, one engine turned off and there was a rocket detonation . the crew was able to fly back, saving everyone who was on board, including 20 wounded. i understood that there was no fire, we only lost one law and the first, maybe the first seconds, i tried not to fall because it was a drop in the rotation of the carrying loads, which is very critical on a helicopter, and i tried

to continue flying, and at the same time it was still necessary to maneuver because, in our opinion , it is honestly correct, for this feat, the helicopter major solovyov was awarded the highest award of the hero of ukraine. in general, in three helicopters were lost in this operation, but all 16 aircraft were able to deliver by air to mariupol everything necessary for long-term defense thanks to this operation, it was possible to postpone for more than a month the events that this happened firstly, secondly, it was possible to support the garrison, people got hope, they believed, they saw that they were not abandoned , they were not forgotten, it gave them the moral strength to defend themselves, well, in addition, from a purely military point of view

, ammunition was delivered to them, which they used there , medicines, additional manpower so, overall, all this gave a significant result, if it were not for this daring air operation developed by military intelligence, the defenders of mariupol would have held out much less , the month that they won allowed to build the defense system that is effective from now on, that is, with these actions, they shackled the enemy and did not allow a group of more than ten thousand to move immediately to zaporizhzhia, this is how we gained time and this is how we destroyed them from behind, and the boys realized that they were not alone, what do they remember that ukraine is fighting for them and helping them. and this raised morale quite a bit. for all 86 days of heroic resistance, the defenders of mariupol

managed not only to inflict painful losses on the enemy, not only to distract his significant forces , but also to receive significant international support the world's leading media wrote a lot about the defense of azovstal and about the air operation of military intelligence in the sky over mariupol as an unprecedentedly daring and successfully impossible , in principle there is nothing to plan such operations - this is chess when a player knows exactly the course and sequence of his actions i think that o-o - in today's management , the general management of sweeps is very good , uh, positions. i think that this is enough, uh , the games are serious enough, that's why it turns out that i lost five due to the loud

global response, ukraine succeeded under strong international pressure to force russia in the first days of may to first agree to the evacuation of all civilians from the bunkers of the plant, the first mood is better, they are ready for the locomotive , the convoy has passed and arrived. of president zelenskyi, under the international security guarantee of the united nations , the evacuation of all two and a half thousand defenders would have been carried out, and this was their capture, on the contrary, an honest act of the ukrainian military, the armed forces of ukraine, the intelligence of the negotiation group of the international committee of the red cross and the oun, we hope that it will be possible to save the lives of our boys, among them there are seriously wounded

, they are given help, i want to emphasize that the ukrainian hero is needed by ukraine alive, this is our principle, i think that every adequate person will understand these words, the operation as soon as the sun rises in mariupol, our military scouts began to bring the boys home , the work continues and this work requires delicacy and time for exactly four months it took ukraine to bring home the first defenders of mariupol on september 21, 2022, the main intelligence directorate of the ministry of defense, together with other law enforcement agencies, managed to conduct a unique operation of the great exchange , a total of 215 fighters, including 10 foreigners, were released from russian prisons in addition to two hundred soldiers. we returned five more fighters commanders for whom it was necessary to fight the most and for the longest time, the most difficultly, they