Donetsk Sergei Prokofiev International Airport ( uk, Міжнародний аеропорт "Донецьк",

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Международный аэропорт "Донецк") is a former airport located northwest of

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loc ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

, that was destroyed in 2014 during the

war in Donbas War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. It was built in the 1940s, rebuilt in 1973, and then again from 2011 to 2012 for

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

. In 2013, during its last full year of operation, it handled more than a million passengers. The airport is named after twentieth-century composer

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, ...

, who was a native of

Donetsk Oblast The Donetsk Oblast ( ukr, Донецька область, Donetska oblast, ), also referred to as Donechchyna ( ukr, Донеччина, links=no), is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 mill ...

. The former airport, after being destroyed during the

1st First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

and 2nd Battles of Donetsk Airport, has been controlled by pro-Russian separatist forces since 2015 and has occasionally since been a battleground.

History

Development until 2014

In accordance with a large infrastructure-building program in the

area for

, in 2011 the

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

construction company "Altcom" constructed a new airport terminal, developed by experts from

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

. The Ukrainian state budget allocated $758m for the renovation project, while private investments and the local budget of

made up the remaining funds. During Euro 2012, the new terminal received international flights, with football fans flown in from many European capitals, including

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and was regarded as a symbol of Ukraine’s progress. From August 1, 2012 it served both domestic and international flights. The airline

Donbassaero Donbassaero ( uk, Донбасаеро, Russian: Донбассаэро) was an airline with its head office on the property of Donetsk International Airport in Donetsk, Ukraine. It operated domestic and international scheduled services. Its ma ...

had its head office located at the airport, although ceased operations in January 2013.

2014–15 conflict

On May 26, 2014, fighters from the

Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic ( rus, Донецкая Народная Республика, Donetskaya Narodnaya Respublika, dɐˈnʲetskəjə nɐˈrodnəjə rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə; abbreviated as DPR or DNR, rus, ДНР) is a disputed en ...

, with technical assistance from Russian mercenaries, seized the airport soon after

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko ( uk, Петро́ Олексі́йович Пороше́нко, ; born 26 September 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Poroshenko se ...

won the

2014 Ukrainian presidential election Snap presidential elections held in Ukraine on 25 May 2014 resulted in Petro Poroshenko being elected President of Ukraine. Service at the airport has not resumed since the battle. On October 1, 2014, the belligerents attempted to retake the airport. A spokesman for what the Ukrainian government calls its anti-terrorist operation said Ukrainian forces repelled four attacks on the airport that evening. A

T-64 tank The T-64 is a Soviet tank manufactured in Kharkiv, and designed by Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau. The tank was introduced in the early 1960s. It was a more advanced counterpart to the T-62: the T-64 served in tank divisions, while ...

was destroyed and seven Donetsk fighters were killed, Vladyslav Seleznyov told Kanal 5 TV. A reporter for

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...

said on October 1 that there were indications that the government had lost control of the airport. DNR leader Alexander Zakharchenko said it was "95%" under his forces’ control. Ukrainian officials insisted the airport was still under government control as of October 2014. Zakharchenko claimed that the rebels had taken complete control of the airport on January 17, 2015, after a series of battles with pro-government forces over the complex. One day later, it was reported that government forces claimed to have retaken almost all parts of the airport lost to the belligerents in recent weeks, after a mass operation during the night. On January 21, Ukrainian forces admitted losing control of the airport to the

rebels. Over the course of battles for the airport, the airport complex suffered extensive damage from constant bombardments and change of hand between pro-government and proxy forces. The main terminal buildings, with their sturdy concrete construction, served as

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mili ...

s and shelters for soldiers defending the airport grounds, and as a result the buildings were subjected to attacks and suffered extensive structural failures, most notably the collapse of the massive roof over the new terminal building's mezzanine. Similarly, the

control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

was contested by opposing forces as a strategic lookout point, but eventually collapsed in January 2015 during the final leg of the

Second Battle of Donetsk Airport A part of the ongoing war in the Donbas region of Ukraine, the Second Battle of Donetsk Airport began on 28 September 2014. An earlier battle in May 2014 had left Donetsk International Airport in Ukrainian control. Despite a ceasefire agre ...

. Since the fighting, the ruins of the airport have been cleared of rubble, leaving behind the concrete shells of the new terminal building and adjoining parking garage.

Airlines and destinations

All civilian airline operations including

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding ...

LOT Polish Airlines LOT Polish Airlines, legally incorporated as Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A. (corporation), S.A. (, ''flight''), is the flag carrier of Poland. Established in 1928, LOT was a founding member of IATA and remains one of List of airlines by foundat ...

Air Berlin Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (), branded as airberlin or airberlin.com was a major German airline. At its peak, it was Germany's second-largest airline, as well as Europe's tenth-largest airline in terms of passengers carried. It was h ...

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (russian: ПАО "Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии", ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; russian: Аэрофлот, , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. The ...

and

flydubai Flydubai ( ar, فلاي دبي), legally Dubai Aviation Corporation ( ar, مؤسسة دبي للطيران), is an Emirati government-owned low-cost airline in Dubai, United Arab Emirates with its head office and flight operations in Terminal 2 ...

were suspended due to armed conflict in May 2014, and the airport's facilities were subsequently completely destroyed.

Statistics

Accidents and incidents

* On November 3, 1996, a group of

contract killer Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

s dressed in security forces fatigues opened indiscriminate fire at the plane of prominent local businessman

Yevhen Shcherban Yevhen Oleksandrovych Shcherban ( uk, Євген Олександрович Щербань, 18 January 1946 – 3 November 1996) was a Ukrainian businessman and politician.apron An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

after a flight from Moscow. Shcherban and his wife were killed, together with an airport ground technician and the plane's

flight engineer A flight engineer (FE), also sometimes called an air engineer, is the member of an aircraft's flight crew who monitors and operates its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referred to as the "air m ...

. * On February 13, 2013,

South Airlines Flight 8971 On 13 February 2013, a Ukrainian Antonov An-24 passenger aircraft operating South Airlines flight 8971 crashed on landing at Donetsk International Airport, Ukraine, killing 5 of the 52 people on board. Accident At 18:09 Kyiv Time, after an int ...

crashed when the plane overshot the runway as it attempted an emergency landing, resulting in 5 fatalities.

References

External links

Official website
* {{authority control 1940s establishments in Ukraine 2014 disestablishments in Ukraine Airports built in the Soviet Union Defunct airports in Ukraine Companies based in Donetsk Buildings and structures in Donetsk Ruins in Ukraine