Yurii Rudenko

“At one point, the guys reported hearing the Russians say, “Fuck this!” Then, they started to pull back bit by bit. The guys realized those words they heard weren’t for nothing. This encouraged us a little and gave us the strength to keep holding on. We slowly started retreating from the airport. But on our side, the fight went on. They tried to break through, but we held the ground. The enemy knew their forces had already entered from the south, but they couldn’t break through on our side, so they just kept putting on pressure.

We were passing ammo simply by tossing it from trench to trench. We would just pour as much as we could into a backpack and toss it over. We would take gas mask pouches, put the rounds there, spin the pouches, and toss them to each other. That’s how we kept the guys supplied. Artillery kept firing on both sides. Once they entered the airport, the shelling ceased, and a close-range combat began. Tanks operated within 200 meters, targeting our covers. Whenever they were able to spot where we were shooting from, they would shower that spot with everything they’d got.

There were helicopters, [we] tried to shoot them down. Shells flying, stuff exploding, no end in sight. Until we heard those words and realized they were retreating. But we knew they wouldn’t stop there. They would regroup and come back, especially having seen the area now.”