2022 Chornobaivka attacks

The 2022 Chornobaivka attacks were a series of Ukrainian attacks against the Russian-held Kherson International Airport at Chornobaivka, which began on 27 February 2022 during the southern Ukraine campaign of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Chornobaivka, located in Ukraine's Kherson Oblast, saw dozens of attacks on Russian positions by the Ukrainian Armed Forces following a bombing and takeover by the Russian Armed Forces of the town's airport.

According to Ukraine, these attacks resulted in the death of the Russian general Yakov Rezantsev of the 49th Combined Arms Army on 24 March. Russian general Andrey Mordvichev of the 8th Combined Arms Army was also reported killed in an attack on 18 March, but was later confirmed to still be alive. The deaths of many Russian soldiers and the destruction of their accompanying military equipment due to the attacks at the locality were also reported. Amid Russia's heavy purported losses, memes on Ukrainian social media appeared mocking Russia's losses in Chornobaivka. Chornobaivka became a popular phenomenon in general Ukrainian society.

Ukrainian attacks against the Russian army at Chornobaivka continued up to 5 November, four days before the announced Russian withdrawal from the area. Chornobaivka was liberated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on 11 November, putting an end to the Russian occupation of its airport.

Chornobaivka is a small town in the Kherson Oblast in Ukraine. It is a gateway to the city of Kherson and its control gives strategic and tactical advantage in the event of a hypothetical attack on Mykolaiv. This is mainly due to the airport located there, which the Russian Armed Forces intended to use as a landing point during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is why Alexander Lemenov, a Ukrainian analyst, defined Chornobaivka as one of Russia's military targets during its war with Ukraine.

On 24 February 2022, the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia bombed six airports in Ukraine, including the Kherson International Airport at Chornobaivka.

On the morning of 27 February, Russian forces took control of the airport. On the same day, Chornobaivka saw its first Ukrainian attack against Russian forces. The Ukrainian forces bombarded the Russian military with Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 combat drones. The Ukrainian military released a video of the drones carrying out airstrikes on Russian positions, the first footage of Bayraktar drones in action since the beginning of the war. This event occurred on the second anniversary of the 2020 Balyun airstrikes by the Russian army that killed 34 Turkish soldiers in Syria. The Turkish embassy in Kyiv described the airstrikes at Chornobaivka as "revenge" for the 2020 Baylun incident and declared that "there is such a thing as divine justice".

On 2 March, Governor of Mykolaiv Oblast Vitaliy Kim announced another successful Ukrainian attack against Russian forces in Chornobaivka. Afterwards, on 7 March, the Ukrainian military claimed the destruction of 30 Russian military helicopters that had been stationed at the airport, as well other Russian equipment and manpower. On 15 March, Ukraine inflicted another attack on Russian forces in Chornobaivka. Kim reported that as a result, Russian soldiers fled to the suburbs of the then-Russian-occupied Kherson. On 16 March, Ukrainian forces once again shelled the Russian-controlled airport, destroying seven to fifteen military helicopters. The Wall Street Journal reported that "Ukraine carried out an airstrike on the Kherson airport, which is now a Russian airbase, and satellite imagery of the tarmac showed seven destroyed or damaged Russian helicopters, some of them engulfed in flames".

On 18 March, a new Ukrainian attack on Chornobaivka targeted the position of the 8th Combined Arms Army, allegedly killing its commander, lieutenant general Andrey Mordvichev. Russian sources did not confirm his death and on 28 March, footage appeared showing Ramzan Kadyrov, Head of the Chechen Republic, meeting with Mordvichev and other commanders in Mariupol. Later, BBC News Russian confirmed Mordvichev was still alive. On 19 March, the next day, Ukraine again attacked Russian forces at Chornobaivka. Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, stated "Simply do not laugh. We caught them again in Chornobaivka. For the sixth time." Two days later, on 21 March, Ukrainian forces again attacked the airport, which Arestovych announced by saying "Get together. Now you will need all your courage. Chornobaivka. The seventh time." Satellite images obtained from Planet Labs by The New York Times showed that, as a result of continuous attacks, between 15 and 21 March, Russia had withdrawn most of its helicopters from Chornobaivka's airport to other airfields, although it still had ground units present at the airbase.