“There was an impact site of a
Tochka-U, which is a big missile,” said Sydney. “Then there were a lot of Sukhoi aircraft that were flying over, dropping stuff.”
After that came the helicopters. Huge waves of them.
“There were over 44 helicopters with air assault troops and our problem on the spot was that we were lacking a means and assets for taking them down in those numbers.”
Sydney then praised the young Ukrainian National Guard troops who stood their ground, firing old Soviet-era man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) at the overwhelming influx of Russia’s
vaunted VDV airborne assault troops.
“I would like to give credit to the young boys. Some of them were 18 and 19 years old. Their mission was to guard the airfield and runway itself. They took down a few helicopters and one Sukhoi fighter jet. Despite the fact that they're people of 18 and 19 years of age, they have balls bigger than many people in this world.”
The attack on the airport was eventually repelled, the biggest in a cascading series of military disasters for Russia that led to their ignominious retreat.
But before they left Antonov Airport, the Russians lashed out, said Sydney, destroying the world’s biggest airplane -
the six-engine An-225 cargo jet known worldwide by its nickname Mriya.