UKRAINE: The 'cyborg' defenders of Donetsk airport

BBC News ^ | Vitaly Shevchenko

[UMCRevMom@aol.com]

Mention a cyborg to a Ukrainian and they probably won't think of "cybernetic organisms", or man-machines of science fiction. Instead, the word now conjures up images of rugged, heavily armed men holed up inside what remains of Donetsk Airport in war-torn eastern Ukraine.

The airport has become a symbol of Ukraine's fight against separatists, and the "cyborgs" are Ukrainians who have held on to it despite persistent rebel attack.

The separatists terrorists have been trying to capture the airport with backing from the Russian military.

It is not clear how many people on either side have died in the fighting for the airport; retrieving the bodies is so dangerous that some are reportedly left to lie among the debris.

So why are both sides so determined for control over the airport?

For now, its significance is as symbolic as it is practical.

The airport's embattled defenders receive many of their supplies from Ukraine's volunteer movement. President Petro Poroshenko himself donated some night-vision goggles.

But behind the media image of the cyborgs, there is a grim reality to the soldiers' lives.

Some of the Ukrainian fighters inside the ruins describe what it is like being there.

"It's cold. It's dark. It's dangerous all the time. All this affects how you think. You get used to shots being fired pretty quickly," writes Maxim Muzyka. "You get used to everything," he adds.

"Not everyone likes the name," says Vasily Holoveshchenko who paints a sobering picture of life at odds with the superhuman image they have been given.

"We are humans. Almost every one of us is married with children. Our thoughts are human too - we want this to be over soon."