2022 Chornobaivka attacks | |||||||
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Part of the southern Ukraine offensive of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
![]() ![]() (killed per Ukrainian claim)[2] | Unknown | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
Several military helicopters | Bayraktar TB2 combat drones[8] and mortars[7] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Per Ukraine: 2 generals Dozens of helicopters and other military equipment 75 soldiers killed (20th attack only)[9] |
Per Russia: 1 drone and 5 missiles are shot down[10] |
The 2022 Chornobaivka attacks consist of a series of Ukrainian attacks against the Russian-held Kherson International Airport at Chornobaivka, which began on 27 February 2022 during the southern Ukraine offensive of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Chornobaivka, located in Ukraine's Kherson Oblast, has seen a total of 22 attacks on Russian positions by the Ukrainian Armed Forces following a bombing and takeover by the Russian Armed Forces of the town's airport.
According to Ukraine, these attacks have resulted in the death of two Russian generals, Andrey Mordvichev of the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army on 18 March, who was later confirmed to still be alive; and Yakov Rezantsev of the 49th Combined Arms Army on 24 March. The death of many Russian soldiers and the destruction of the military equipment they were carrying with them was also reported. Amid Russia's heavy purported losses, memes on Ukrainian social media appeared mocking Russia's performance in Chornobaivka.
Background
Chornobaivka is a small town in the Kherson Oblast in Ukraine. It is a gateway to the city of Kherson and its control gives strategic and tactical advantage in the event of a hypothetical attack on Mykolaiv. This is mainly due to the airport located there, which the Russian Armed Forces intended to use as a landing point during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is why Alexander Lemenov, a Ukrainian analyst, defined Chornobaivka as one of Russia's military targets during its war with Ukraine.[11]
On 24 February 2022, the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia bombed six airports in Ukraine, including the Kherson International Airport at Chornobaivka.[12]
Strikes
On the morning of 27 February, Russian forces took control of the airport.[13] On the same day, Chornobaivka saw its first Ukrainian attack against Russian forces. The Ukrainian forces bombarded the Russian military with Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 combat drones. The Ukrainian military released a video of the drones carrying out airstrikes on Russian positions, the first footage of Bayraktar drones in action since the beginning of the war. This event occurred on the second anniversary of the 2020 Balyun airstrikes by the Russian army that killed 34 Turkish soldiers in Syria. The Turkish embassy in Kyiv described the airstrikes at Chornobaivka as "revenge" for the 2020 Baylun incident and declared that "there is such a thing as divine justice".[8]
The next event in Chornobaivka occurred on 7 March, when the Ukrainian military claimed the destruction of 30 Russian military helicopters that had been stationed at the airport, as well other Russian equipment and manpower.[14] Afterwards, on 15 March, Ukraine inflicted another attack on Russian forces in Chornobaivka. Governor of Mykolaiv Oblast Vitaliy Kim reported that as a result, Russian soldiers fled to the suburbs of the then-Russian-occupied Kherson.[15] On 16 March, Ukrainian forces once again shelled the Russian-controlled airport, claiming destruction of seven military helicopters.[16] The Wall Street Journal reported that "Ukraine carried out an airstrike on the Kherson airport, which is now a Russian airbase, and satellite imagery of the tarmac showed seven destroyed or damaged Russian helicopters, some of them engulfed in flames".[17]
On 18 March, a new Ukrainian attack on Chornobaivka targeted the position of the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army, allegedly killing its commander, lieutenant general Andrey Mordvichev.[3][4] Russian sources did not confirm his death[18][19] and on 28 March, footage appeared showing Ramzan Kadyrov, Head of the Chechen Republic, meeting with Mordvichev and other commanders in Mariupol.[20][21] Later, BBC News Russian confirmed Mordvichev was still alive.[22] On 19 March, the next day, Ukraine again defeated Russian forces at Chornobaivka. Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, stated "Simply do not laugh. We caught them again in Chornobaivka. For the sixth time."[23] Two days later, on 21 March, Ukrainian forces again attacked the airport, which Arestovych announced by saying "Get together. Now you will need all your courage. Chornobaivka. The seventh time."[24]
The Russians were again attacked at the airport of Chornobaivka by Ukraine on 22 March, suffering casualties and equipment loss. Arestovych explained the incidents in the town by stating that Russian helicopters going from Crimea to Ukraine were seeing themselves being forced to use the airport of Chornobaivka in order to land due to a lack of alternatives for amassing troops on the area. However, as a result of Ukraine's flat terrain, Ukrainian forces were capable of easily attacking the Russian forces at Chornobaivka.[25] The ninth incident in Chornobaivka took place on 23 March amid a new Ukrainian attack at the airport. Arestovych this time said that the Russian equipment that had been stored on it was less numerous than before.[26] The following day, on 24 March, the Ukrainian army again attacked the Russian military at Chornobaivka. Arestovych said that, immediately after the Ukrainian attack, there was a big movement of troops over the nearby Antonovskiy Bridge, for which he claimed that the Russian troops had fled away.[27] It was also claimed that a second Russian general was killed on Chornobaivka during this attack. If confirmed, the Ukrainian army would have killed lieutenant general Yakov Rezantsev, commander of the 49th Combined Arms Army.[6]
On 27 March, the eleventh Ukrainian attack on Russians at Chornobaivka was reported by Arestovych.[28] On 28 March, Arestovych announced that a twelfth Ukrainian attack on the Chornobaivka airport had occurred.[29] On this day as well, Russia reported it had shot down one drone and five missiles of Ukraine at Chornobaivka.[10] The thirteenth Ukrainian attack on Chornobaivka was on 1 April, as Arestovych reported. Kim also commented on the event, wishing Russian forces a happy April Fools' Day.[30] On the same day, Russian soldiers were attacked again at Chornobaivka for the fourteenth time. Arestovych stated that, with the thirteenth and fourteenth attacks, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had managed to destroy an entire battalion of Russian forces in the town.[31]
On 14 April, Arestovych reported that the fifteenth attack on Chornobaivka by the Ukrainian army had taken place, destroying ammunition depots of Russia's 22nd Army Corps.[5] Arestovych later claimed that, on 17 April at night, the Ukrainian forces had again destroyed Russian military equipment stored in Chornobaivka's airport.[32] He briefly announced on 24 April that the seventeenth Ukrainian strike on Russians in the town had occurred.[33] Arestovych said that on 2 May, the Ukrainian army destroyed another Russian ammunition depot following another attack. It was carried out with mortars by soldiers of Ukraine's 30th Mechanized Brigade. The brigade said the strikes came from mortars recently added to its unit and that "uninvited guests" would now have less ammunition to bombard Ukrainian territory.[7] On 13 May, there was a major campaign of 25 shellings against Russian positions at Chornobaivka. For three hours, attacks were carried out against Russian equipment depots as well as artillery and missile weapons and ammunition.[34]
Arestovych announced the twentieth incident at Chornobaivka on 15 May. He said that the attack started at 12:00 and that it was still ongoing at the time of his report.[35] The Operational Command South later said on its Facebook page that the attack had resulted in the death of 75 soldiers of the Russian army and in the destruction of almost 20 units of its military equipment. An ammunition depot and two maintenance workshops were also destroyed.[9] The next day, on 16 May, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced a new attack on Russian forces in Chornobaivka, which caused them losses in equipment and manpower.[36] On 29 May, Arestovych announced a twenty-second incident in Chornobaivka. He said that Ukrainian forces fired on a Russian ammunition depot and that the attack lasted at least for an hour.[37]
Reactions
Due to the large number of attacks the Russian forces have suffered at Chornobaivka, the settlement has been described as having reached a "legendary" status in Ukraine. On Ukrainian-language social media, a wave of memes appeared mocking the reported failures of Russia in Chornobaivka.[38][39] Furthermore, Alcohol Ukulele, a Ukrainian band, composed a song in Kryvyi Rih about the events in Chornobaivka.[40]
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented that "Ukrainian Chornobaivka will go down in the history of war" and that "this is a place where the Russian military, their commanders, have shown themselves completely... as they are—incompetent, able to simply drive their people to slaughter".[41]
See also
References
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