Antonov Leadership Did Not Allow Military To Hostomel Airfield, They Received Access Only On February 23, 2022 - Media

The leadership of the Antonov state enterprise (SE) blocked access to the airfield in Hostomel for about a month for military personnel of the National Guard of Ukraine (NGU). In the end, the military was only able to get to the airfield a day before the start of a full-scale invasion.

Economic Pravda reports this with reference to sources in law enforcement agencies.

The interlocutor of the publication, aware of this issue, said that the NGU servicemen in January 2022 tried to negotiate with the leadership of Antonov about access to the airfield.

According to him, the company's management did not allow the military to enter the site. In addition, it required documents from the National Guard indicating the number of personnel, weapons and layouts of air defense.

National guardsmen were forced to develop such a document. It was transferred to Antonov on February 3, 2022. Despite this, the military was only able to get into the territory of the airfield on February 23, just a day before the start of a full-scale invasion.

The interlocutor of the publication noted that because of this, the servicemen of the National Guard practically did not have time to prepare the airfield for defense.

Recall that in the morning of February 24, several dozen Russian helicopters landed troops in Hostomel to turn it into a transfer point for the main part of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Federation.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Ukrainian media published an interview with Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov. According to him, in the first hours after the start of a full-scale invasion, the leadership of the Ministry of Defense was supposed to go to Hostomel, where a protected command post was located.

Earlier we reported that on February 24, 2022, Russian paratroopers landed in Hostomel, Kyiv Region, there were blocked by servicemen of the National Guard of Ukraine.