We have seen countless videos of Ukrainians blowing up Russian stuff. Russian troops have left their fallen comrades to rot on the battlefield while scampering off with their loot. But the video below shows perhaps the most daring and courageous Ukrainian military operation of the war; It is a testament to the bravery and skill of Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter crews who faced daunting odds to deliver ammunition, food, water, and medicine more than 60 miles behind enemy lines to the besieged defenders at the Azovstal steel plant in the occupied port city of Mariupol.
One mission carried 72 Azov Regiment fighters to reinforce the garrison, and another carried a volunteer medical team. On the return leg, some of the missions carried wounded soldiers evacuated from the plant.
This video was only recently released by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense’s Chief Intelligence Directorate and shows views from the helicopter flight deck as the aircraft flew very low over the sea and Mariupol's docks, as well as a brief shot of the helicopter on the ground at the Azovstal plant.
Major General Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, told The War Zone website, in an interview posted May 25, that a total of 16 Mi-8 helicopters took part in seven resupply missions, flying two at a time and once four at a time to Azovstal. ‘“All deliveries were successful,’ Budanov said. But on the 5th and 7th missions, two helicopters were shot down. A third helicopter coming to the rescue on one of those was also destroyed.”
Budanov did not indicate when the missions were carried out, but apparently, they took place in March and into mid-April. They apparently were halted once Russian anti-aircraft defenses became too strong.
The first public mention of the helicopter supply mission came on April 22 when Ukrainskaya Pravda interviewed Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council. Danilov said: "It is not necessary to say, but I will tell you that when we started sending helicopters there at night and when they asked what was necessary, they asked for ammunition. Not water, not food, although it was also delivered."
On May 17, the Ukrainian military command stated that the Mariupol garrison had completed its combat mission and ordered the commanders at Azovstal to save the lives of the defenders. On May 20, the last defenders had left the sprawling steel works. Russia claimed that its forces had captured 2,439 Ukrainian fighters.
That same evening, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a television interview marking the third anniversary of his inauguration, paid tribute to the “absolutely heroic” pilots “who knew that it was difficult, almost impossible to fly to Azovstal and bring them medicine, food, water and bodies (reinforcements).”
A few days later, Andriy Biletsky, the founder and first commander of the Azov Regiment, praised “the heroism and professionalism of Ukrainian pilots” in an interview with Ukrainskaya Pravda in which he provided more details about the helicopter missions to Azovstal.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has said the helicopters flew seven missions to resupply the Azovstal defenders. Two helicopters were lost on the last two missions. Biletsky said one of the Azov fighters flown in to reinforce the garrison was killed in action a day after arriving. He added that some flights carried out wounded soldiers on the return leg.
Biletsky said that on the last flight, a civilian medical team from the city of Dnipro—including a nurse, an anesthesiologist, and two surgeons—volunteered to be flown into Azovstal. "They flew, clearly realizing that the probability (of dying) is just huge. But they flew because they understood that our people were dying there," he said.
“There have never been such operations in the history of mankind," Biletsky said."Maybe after the war, or even during the war, it will be shown as a film. This is a story for a movie. But the man should tell it himself. It has to be told by the officer, the pilot. And he has something to tell. He is alive and well."
And that pilot told the story in a video released on June 2 by the Ukrainian military, according to Ukrainskaya Pravda. The pilot, whose identity was disguised in the video, said: "The main difficulty was that it was necessary to deliver the cargo into the depth of the enemy-held area, which was larger than 100 km (60 miles). The enemy's air defense was very dense throughout this area, and it was not only difficult—it was almost impossible to achieve. But practice has shown that it is possible, and we achieved it."
He said there were three different anti-aircraft missile systems that covered the landing area at Azovstal, and the Ukrainian pilots had to make use of natural and man-made obstacles en route to the landing site. “But we all realized what was going on there. That people didn't even have medicine there to provide some basic care, there was no ammunition. It was extremely necessary to do it. That is why everyone took this risk."
According to the pilot, the greatest anxiety was felt when the crew walked to the helicopter before takeoff, but once underway everyone understood that they had a mission to fulfill. "But once [we arrived] in Mariupol, when the cargo was being unloaded, the feeling was one of euphoria. It seemed to us that since we succeeded in arriving and standing here—within reach of three anti-aircraft missile systems—and we were unloading, we are like kings of the world, we had already won, and everything would be fine.
On the return leg, three minutes after take-off, the pilot said his helicopter was hit by MANPADS portable anti-aircraft missile and one engine failed. The helicopter behind his was also hit by a missile, crashed, and everyone aboard was killed.
"After the missile hit, we had an adrenaline rush—and we just did what we had to do. There were 20 wounded on board, and we understood that if we were to land somewhere in the field, how would they be picked up and evacuated further? Another helicopter would be needed, and this would become an unplanned operation—so we just flew to the landing site."
Without these brave helicopter crews carrying out resupply missions, it’s possible that the siege of Mariupol might have ended sooner than it did. Russian forces encircled the port city on March 1, and the last Ukrainian defenders left Azovstal on May 20.
According to the Pentagon, at one point, as many as 12 Russian battalion tactical groups (roughly 8,800-12,000 troops if at full strength) were pinned down fighting in Mariupol. These forces could have been used elsewhere for fighting in southern or eastern Ukraine.
On Monday, The Associated Press reported that Russia has begun turning over the bodies of dozens of Ukrainian fighters killed at the Azovstal steelworks. The bodies were transferred to Kyiv, where DNA testing is underway to identify the remains, according to both a military leader and a spokeswoman for the Azov Regiment.
On Monday, Zelenskyy confirmed that more than 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers who were defending the Azovstal plant are currently held by Russia. He told a news conference that the Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense is working on freeing them through a prisoner exchange.
“We know what it’s like to cut deals with Russia, we know the price we will have to pay. We know that they cannot be trusted. …The Chief Intelligence Directorate has to continue working on this issue and has to find a solution. There is only one possible solution—to return those people home," Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian flag that fluttered over Azovstal during the siege has been transferred to the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv.