Landing on Hostomel. Anatomy of Russia's Failure [ANALYSIS]

The chopper landing in Hostomel, to the alleged “Antonov” airport, was 1 of the most crucial events of the first day of the war, which influenced the course of the first phase of the full Kiev campaign. It is assumed that the intent of the landing was to control the airfield, safe the anticipation of receiving transport aircraft, and so to adopt reinforcement forces at the airport - a mechanized component of the Airborne Forces (WDW) transported by Il-76 aircraft. These forces could operate in the immediate foreground of Kiev, and in the following days Hostomel airport would turn into a immense logistics and military hub.