On 24 February 2022 Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, eight years after seizing Crimea and backing armed groups in Donbas; on 2 March the UN General Assembly deplored 'the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine' and demanded withdrawal (Resolution ES-11/1, 141-5). Ukrainian forces were defending their own territory. Its first blow at Kyiv was a helicopter assault on Antonov Airport at Hostomel, meant to open an airhead for Il-76 transports on the capital's western flank. About 200 National Guard conscripts and rear-echelon troops shot down several helicopters before falling back; the planned Il-76 airlift was called off in the air because the airfield had not been secured; a Ukrainian counterattack that evening retook the field, and the defenders cratered the runway as they withdrew. The airport fell to the column from Belarus on 25 February, and the An-225 Mriya was destroyed in its hangar, but the Russians never flew in the airborne force the plan needed. For five weeks Hostomel, Bucha and the airport were occupied while Ukrainian forces held the Irpin line. When Russian troops withdrew around 1 April, Ukrainian officials, UN monitors, Human Rights Watch and journalists documented killings, detentions and missing residents in Hostomel and Bucha. Loss figures are claims or estimates, attributed in the captions; positions are approximate where marked. For the wider Kyiv battle see the Battle of Kyiv map.
Open the interactive map7 stages on modern satellite imagery and terrain, with 3D elevation
This battle is free to explore — no account needed.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine before dawn on 24 February. Antonov Airport at Hostomel, about 20 km northwest of central Kyiv, has a 3,500 m runway, two large hangars and, southeast of the runway, the base of the National Guard's 4th Rapid Reaction Brigade. Most of the brigade's combat units were away; about 200 soldiers, mostly new conscripts, were on hand under Maj. Vitalii Rudenko, with small arms, Igla missiles and at least one ZU-23-2 gun. They had parked trucks across the runway; Ukraine's security service later alleged that Antonov's managers had forbidden fortifications and kept the Guard out of the airfield before the invasion. At about 11 AM some 34 Russian helicopters that had flown low down the Dnipro from Belarus split, attack helicopters to the north and Mi-8 transports to the south, and landed 200-300 troops of the 31st Guards Air Assault Brigade and 45th Spetsnaz Brigade in two waves (the 11th Guards Air Assault Brigade is reportedly also named by some sources). An Igla gunner downed a Ka-52 on the runway; Oryx counts six helicopters photographed destroyed or captured on the perimeter. Low on ammunition, the defenders pulled back toward the town; about 20 at the northern radar post were captured. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed 200 helicopters, more than 200 Ukrainian dead and no Russian losses (unverified). (War on the Rocks; RUSI; ISW 24 Feb; Oryx; Ukrinform; SBU.)
With no tanks or artillery, the paratroopers dug in around the perimeter while they waited for the main body. According to War on the Rocks, about 1,000 troops had boarded 18 Il-76 transports at Pskov (the Modern War Institute puts the planned airlift at up to 4,000 troops); the flight was called off in the air, perhaps because Ukrainian fire made the runway unusable or because the airfield was not secure (a Ukrinform account says about 15 Il-76s from Tula were diverted to Mazyr in Belarus). By 3:30 PM President Zelensky said the Russians at Hostomel were 'blocked.' At about 5:30 PM, after artillery and Su-24 strikes, a counterattack began by elements of the 80th and 95th Air Assault Brigades (flown in by helicopter from Zhytomyr), the 72nd Mechanized Brigade (by road from Bila Tserkva) and the 3rd Special Purpose Regiment. By about 9 PM Ukraine claimed the airfield (ISW still called it contested at 9:30 PM), and the surviving Russians fell back into the woods west of the field. (War on the Rocks; ISW 24 Feb; tanks-encyclopedia, citing BBC Russian and Oryx; Ukrinform.)
Overnight, with Russian armor that had come down through the Chernobyl zone and Ivankiv closing from the north, the Ukrainians pulled out of the airport, cratering the runway as they left, and fell back to defend Hostomel town. Russian ground forces retook the airport on the morning of 25 February; by evening Ukraine's defense minister said the field was too damaged to use. That day Ukrainian forces blew the Irpin bridges, among them the M07 bridge below Hostomel, where a six-vehicle convoy of about 80 Russian special police was destroyed (MWI); the bridge's demolition is dated 25 February by Irpin's mayor and partial demolition 26 February by MWI. In the town, Ukrainian prosecutors later found, a Rosgvardia detachment from Kemerovo and Krasnoyarsk fired for more than six hours on more than ten civilian cars on Shevchenko and Sviato-Pokrovska Streets, killing five people and wounding six (Kyiv prosecutors, National Police and SBU; five Russian servicemen notified of suspicion). (War on the Rocks; MWI; Ukrinform; Ukrainska Pravda 28 Sep 2022.)
The An-225 Mriya, the world's largest aircraft, was in a hangar on the east side of the field under repair. On 24-25 February Antonov Airlines' chief pilot said it was intact; on 27 February the state defense group Ukroboronprom said 'the occupiers destroyed the plane,' and on 4 March Russian state television showed the wreck. On 19 May 2023 Ukraine's security service named Lt. Gen. Anatoly Kontsevoy, deputy commander of Russia's airborne forces, as a suspect, alleging he ordered the Mriya's destruction; in March 2023 it had charged former Antonov executives with obstructing the airport's defense (Ukrainian official allegations). Maxar imagery of 28 February showed a Russian convoy almost 40 miles long stretching from near the airport north to Prybirsk. On 27 February a Russian airborne column driving down Vokzalna Street in Bucha was stopped at the Bucha-Irpin bridge by the Zhyraf (Giraffe) shopping center and wrecked by artillery. (Space.com; Babel; SBU; NPR/Maxar; Ukrinform; Oryx.)
Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) said on 3 March that its special forces and local resistance groups were fighting for control of Hostomel and had destroyed 20 Russian combat vehicles (Ukrainian claim). On 4 March Ukrainian officials claimed the town and said the 31st Guards Air Assault Brigade had lost at least 50 dead (HUR claim). That day and the next, Russian troops, reportedly of the 31st Guards Air Assault Brigade, came back in, occupied a residential complex and held dozens of residents in basements; a journalist held there reported about 60 people in one basement. Russian forces controlled Bucha from about 4-5 March (UN monitors date the occupation 5-30 March). On 7 March Hostomel's head, Yurii Prylypko, and two volunteers, Ruslan Karpenko and Ivan Zoria, were shot dead by Russian troops while handing out food and medicine (Hostomel council, via Ukrinform). Human Rights Watch documented two Hostomel men detained on 5 and 6 March, at least one held at a military base in Hostomel before both were transferred to detention in Kursk, Russia. (Ukrainska Pravda; Ukrinform; HRW; OHCHR.)
Through March the airport served as a Russian base while the front settled on the Irpin. Russian troops held Hostomel and Bucha; Irpin was contested: Russian troops held parts of it (a city council member said half on 14 March) until Ukrainian forces retook it on 28 March (ISW). Civilians trying to leave came under fire: on 14 March, police said, Russian mortars hit the second of two evacuation bus columns from Hostomel, killing a woman in a car traveling with it. In Bucha, the UN monitoring mission found that at least 14 civilians were shot dead on a 150 m stretch of Yablunska Street; a New York Times investigation (December 2022) linked killings there to paratroopers of the 234th Guards Air Assault Regiment, 76th Division, and identified dozens of victims killed along Yablunska Street. Hostomel's military administration later said more than 400 residents were missing after 35 days of occupation. (ISW 28 Mar; Ukrinform 14 Mar; OHCHR Dec 2022; NYT via Babel; RFE/RL; Kyiv Post 6 Apr 2022.)
Russia announced on 29 March that it would scale down operations near Kyiv. Bucha's mayor said the town was free on 31 March; on 1 April the Kyiv regional governor, Oleksandr Pavliuk, said Russian forces had left Hostomel, and Kyiv Oblast authorities date its return to 2 April. At the airport, Oryx documented 16 BMD-4M airborne vehicles and a Rtut-BM electronic warfare system destroyed; the Antonov company said the Mriya, an An-26 and an An-74 were destroyed and seven more aircraft badly damaged. The UN monitoring mission documented 441 civilians killed in Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions between 24 February and 6 April, including 73 in Bucha, with 105 more Bucha killings being corroborated; Human Rights Watch documented summary executions by Russian forces in Bucha. Russia denies responsibility. (Al Jazeera 1 Apr; kyivregiontours; Oryx; OHCHR Dec 2022; HRW 21 Apr 2022.)
About 200-300 Russian air-assault troops on some 34 helicopters attacked about 200 National Guard soldiers, mostly conscripts; a planned Il-76 airlift of about 1,000 (War on the Rocks) to up to 4,000 (MWI) troops never landed, and the airport fell only when ground columns from Belarus arrived. Figures are estimates from analysts and participants.
| Air assault, 24 FebruaryWar on the Rocks: 31st Guards Air Assault Brigade and 45th Spetsnaz Brigade in two waves of 10 transport helicopters, with attack helicopters; Russia's Defense Ministry claimed 200 helicopters. War on the Rocks, Aug 2023; RUSI, Preliminary Lessons (Nov 2022) | 200-300 troops, about 34 helicopters |
| Planned Il-76 airlift (did not land)War on the Rocks: about 1,000 troops loaded at Pskov on 18 Il-76s, aborted in the air; the Modern War Institute puts the planned airlift at up to 4,000 troops; a Ukrinform account says about 15 Il-76s from Tula were diverted to Mazyr. War on the Rocks, Aug 2023; Ukrinform, 27 Feb 2026; Modern War Institute, Case Study #12 | about 1,000 (War on the Rocks) to up to 4,000 (MWI) (1,000-4,000 troops; 15-18 Il-76s) |
| Convoy north of the airport, 28 FebruaryMaxar imagery showed the convoy stretching from near Antonov airport to Prybirsk; no troop count. NPR / WUNC, 28 Feb 2022 | almost 40 miles long |
| Airport defenders, 24 FebruaryWar on the Rocks: about 200 National Guard soldiers, mostly conscripts and rear-echelon troops; Tanks Encyclopedia gives 200-300 with 30-40 reinforcements and about ten border guards. War on the Rocks, Aug 2023; Tanks Encyclopedia | about 200 (200-300) |
Losses at the airport itself were modest on the Ukrainian side and in the dozens for the Russian airborne force, with heavy Russian helicopter and vehicle losses photo-verified by Oryx; the heavier toll fell on civilians of Hostomel and Bucha during the five-week occupation, where UN monitors verified dozens of killings and Hostomel reported more than 400 residents missing. Certainty: fair.
| Killed at the airport, 24-25 FebruaryUkraine's military intelligence put the Hostomel toll at up to 50 (The Moscow Times); later compilations estimate about 50-100; Russia's Defense Ministry claimed no Russian losses. The Moscow Times, 3 June 2022; Tanks Encyclopedia, 'The Battle for Hostomel Airport'; The Himalayan Times / AFP (Russian MoD claim, 25 Feb 2022) | up to 50 (Ukrainian intelligence) (none claimed (Russian MoD) - 50-100 (later estimates)) |
| 31st Guards Air Assault Brigade dead (early weeks)Mediazona counted 34 paratroopers of the brigade killed between 25 February and 7 March and The Moscow Times identified at least 38 in Ukraine by June; a captured paratrooper estimated at least 60; Ukraine's HUR claimed 50 or more dead on 4 March. Name counts are floors. The Moscow Times, 3 June 2022 | 34 named (25 Feb - 7 Mar) (34-60+) |
| Special-police convoy at the M07 bridge, 25 FebruaryThe Modern War Institute describes a six-vehicle convoy of about 80 Russian special police destroyed at the E373/M07 bridge; casualties within it are not independently counted. Modern War Institute, Case Study #12: Battle of Kyiv | about 80 in the convoy |
| Killed in the helicopter assault, 24 FebruaryNo Ukrainian troops are believed killed in the initial helicopter phase (Tanks Encyclopedia compilation); Russia's Defense Ministry claimed more than 200 Ukrainian special forces killed, which is unsupported. Tanks Encyclopedia, 'The Battle for Hostomel Airport'; The Himalayan Times / AFP (Russian MoD claim) | none believed killed |
| Captured, 24 FebruaryAbout 20 National Guard soldiers at the northern radar site were captured (War on the Rocks); one National Guard veteran describes his group of four being taken. War on the Rocks, Aug 2023; Ukrinform, 27 Feb 2026 | about 20 |
| Killed (whole period)No total has been published for Ukrainian military dead around Hostomel airport and town (none appears in MWI's Kyiv case study or War on the Rocks). Modern War Institute, Case Study #12 | unknown |
| Hostomel residents missing after the occupationTaras Dumenko, head of Hostomel's military administration, said on 6 April 2022 that more than 400 residents were missing after 35 days of occupation; missing is not the same as dead. Kyiv Post, 6 April 2022 | more than 400 |
| Civilian cars fired on, Shevchenko and Sviato-Pokrovska Streets, 25 FebruaryKyiv prosecutors, the National Police and the SBU say a Rosgvardia detachment fired for more than six hours on more than ten civilian cars; five Russian servicemen were notified of suspicion (Ukrainian official finding). Ukrainska Pravda, 28 September 2022 | 5 killed, 6 wounded |
| Named killings in HostomelHostomel's head Yurii Prylypko and volunteers Ruslan Karpenko and Ivan Zoria were shot dead on 7 March (Hostomel council); police said a woman was killed when Russian mortars hit an evacuation column on 14 March. Ukrinform, 7 March 2022; Ukrinform, 14 March 2022 | mayor and two volunteers (7 Mar); one evacuee (14 Mar) |
| Civilians killed in Bucha (UN-verified)The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission documented 73 civilians killed in Bucha (54 men, 16 women, 2 boys, 1 girl), including at least 14 shot on a 150 m stretch of Yablunska Street; the New York Times counted 30 killed on Yablunska Street. Local authorities give higher totals. OHCHR / UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, 7 Dec 2022; OHCHR full report; NYT investigation via Babel, 22 Dec 2022 | 73 (73 verified; 105 more being corroborated) |
| Civilians killed, Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions (UN-verified)The UN documented 441 civilians killed by Russian forces in areas they controlled or attacked between 24 February and 6 April 2022, and said the real figure is likely higher. OHCHR / UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, 7 Dec 2022 | 441 |
| Russian helicopters lost on the airport perimeterOryx counts 1 Mi-8, 1 Mi-28 and 4 Ka-52 destroyed or captured on the perimeter; War on the Rocks says 6-7 lost in the assault including two near the Kyiv dam; a National Guard officer claims six (Ukrinform). Oryx, 'Destination Disaster'; War on the Rocks, Aug 2023 | 6 photo-confirmed |
| Vehicles lost around the airportOryx lists 111 photographed vehicles and systems on the perimeter, including 16 BMD-4M and 65 trucks, some Ukrainian and some blown up by withdrawing Russian forces, and notes the true total is higher. Oryx, 'Destination Disaster' | 111 listed by Oryx |
| Antonov aircraft destroyedPer Antonov, the Mriya, an An-26 and an An-74 were destroyed and seven aircraft severely damaged; Ukroboronprom announced the Mriya's loss on 27 February and put rebuilding at more than $3 billion. Kyiv Oblast memory sites: Antonov airport; Space.com, Feb 2022 | An-225 Mriya, An-26, An-74 |
The ground itself is little changed - the airfield, the woods west of it and the Irpin valley are where they were in 2022 - but the battle left its own marks: the Mriya's wreck still stood in its roofless hangar in 2023, the blown Irpin bridges have since been rebuilt, and Hostomel's streets and glass works have been largely reconstructed.
Real combat footage, played on Funker530; some clips show violence and casualties. Titles and descriptions are the atlas's own.
At Battle of Hostomel Airport: Soviet-family infantry fighting vehicle; the VDV used the related BMD-2 and BMD-4M, 16 of which Oryx found abandoned at the airport.
The Soviet infantry fighting vehicle that carried Iraqi mechanized infantry. Its thin armor made it easy prey for Bradley 25 mm guns and TOW missiles.
At Battle of Hostomel Airport: Oryx photographed a destroyed T-72 on the airport perimeter.
The best tank in the Iraqi army in 1991, issued mainly to Republican Guard divisions such as the Tawakalna and Medina. Its older night sights and ammunition left crews unable to see or hit American tanks firing from beyond 2,000 m, and its ammunition stored around the turret ring tended to blow the turret off when penetrated.
At Battle of Hostomel Airport: Kalashnikov-family rifles armed both sides.
Mikhail Kalashnikov's AK-47 became the world's most widespread military rifle thanks to its simplicity and reliability in mud, heat and rain. North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops carried both Soviet AKs and the Chinese-made copy, the Type 56.
At Battle of Hostomel Airport: The National Guard had at least one ZU-23-2 at the airport; a ZU-23 was later captured there.
A Soviet twin anti-aircraft cannon found in nearly every Middle Eastern army and militia. Mounted on trucks it is widely used against ground targets, where its rate of fire is devastating to light vehicles and buildings.
At Battle of Hostomel Airport: Standard Ukrainian infantry anti-armor weapon.
The most widespread anti-armor weapon in the world: cheap, simple and effective against light vehicles and buildings. Iraqi soldiers, Fedayeen and later insurgents and militias fired it in volleys from rooftops and alleys in every battle here.
At Battle of Hostomel Airport: Kalashnikov-family rifles armed both sides.
Mikhail Kalashnikov's AK-47 became the world's most widespread military rifle thanks to its simplicity and reliability in mud, heat and rain. North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops carried both Soviet AKs and the Chinese-made copy, the Type 56.
Free for everyone every year on its anniversary: February 24 – April 2.
War on the Rocks (Collins, Kofman, Spencer), RUSI, ISW, Oryx's photo-verified loss list, MWI, Ukrinform and Ukrainska Pravda, the SBU, and UN OHCHR, HRW and the NYT on Hostomel and Bucha; no staff ride handbook exists.
Runway ends from published runway data (length and bearing check out), towns and the M07 bridge from published coordinates, Romanivka bridge and 144 Yablunska from OpenStreetMap; guard posts, cantonment, hostage site and Zhyraf area approximate.
Company and post-level blocks on the airfield partly conjectural; 72nd Mechanized Brigade placement single-sourced; helicopter, column and counterattack routes schematic.
24 February corroborated by ISW plus Oryx imagery, 31 March - 2 April by ISW, officials and UN; Hostomel town fighting rests on Ukrainian claims; DeepStateMap and UA Control Map not consulted for Feb-Mar 2022.
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}