Donetsk Sergiy Prokofiev International Airport
This was one of the best airports in Ukraine. Flights arrived here from Spain, Germany, Greece, the UAE, Turkey, and Israel. In 2013, more than 1.1 million passengers were served by the airport, even more than the year before when the airport had welcomed numerous fans for the European Football Championship being held in Donetsk.
The updated airport was planned to serve up to 5 million travelers a year. Shortly before, a modern terminal was constructed with a whole business cluster planned to be added later. The largest airplane ever built – the “Mriya” – landed on the new airport runway during its opening.
Everything changed in 2014. Russia launched a hybrid war against Ukraine. Donetsk was captured by Russian-sponsored separatist militants. In May 2014, the very last plane took off from the airport.
Even afterward, Ukrainian soldiers continued defending the Donetsk airport. The defense of the airport became one of the symbols of Ukrainian tenacity, and the defenders were immortalized with the name “cyborgs.”
In January 2015, pro-Russian DPR militants blew up the new terminal where the Ukrainian forces had been holding positions. The Ukrainian warriors were forced to retreat from the ruins.
The heroic defense of the Donetsk airport lasted for more than 242 days. It has now been completely destroyed as a result of continuous shelling. The “Mriya” airplane, which had once marked the opening of the new runway, was burned to the ground during the attempted invasion of Kyiv in 2022. Still, experts are discussing options to reconstruct it. Likewise, the Donetsk airport will someday be rebuilt and will once again be open to receive flights from all over the world to free Ukrainian land.
George Potopalsky
George Potopalsky (artistic pseudonym Ujif Notfound started in 2007).
Member of the Association of Electroacoustic Music of Ukraine at the National Union of Composers of Ukraine (since 2010). Participates in many festivals in Ukraine. Represented Ukraine at concerts of the International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music CIME in China, USA, Poland, Austria and other countires.
Created a number of media installations. Releases albums. He collaborates with many Ukrainian and foreign artists as a media artist, among them: Dmitry Fedorenko (founder of the label and festival KVITNU http://kvitnu.com/), composer Alla Zagaykevych. He is a regular participant of festivals of the National Union of Composers of Ukraine and electronic music projects since 2009 (EM-VISIA and Electroacoustics projects).
For two years he was a lecturer of optional courses in music programming at the National Music Academy of Ukraine (Department of Composition and Music Information Technologies). Co-founder of the New Media Art School with author courses from the most famous media artists of Ukraine. (Photinus, BLCKBOX).