Ukrainians watch astonished at Groundhog Day blunders

Gazing at the Russian helicopters at the airport opposite her ruined house yesterday, Galina Tatarinova shook her head with astonishment.

“They’re just standing there again,” said the nurse, 44, experiencing an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. “The helicopters are just sitting on the tarmac.”

Tatarinova lives in Chornobayivka, today the most famous village in Ukraine because it has become a byword for breathtaking Russian military incompetence.

Ten times in a row Russian officers have moved troops and heavy equipment on to the airfield to secure it. Ten times in a row Ukrainian artillery landed direct strikes on them, killing two Russian generals in the process.

Russian forces have lost so much military hardware at the airport that Chornobayivka has became a meme on Ukrainian social media, boosting the country’s morale. A still from the movie Groundhog Day shows a smiling Bill Murray sitting with the mythical groundhog, captioned “Where are we going — to Chornobayivka!” Others also mocked the Russians, referencing the Men In Black memory eraser: “Russian soldier, you have never been to Chornobayivka.” And the Goodfellas gangsters laughing uproariously to the words: “And then he said, why don’t you go to Chornobayivka again and find out what happened to the previous six groups?”

The village lies just outside Kherson, the only major Ukrainian city to be occupied by Russian forces after more than a month of fighting. Next door is Kherson airport.

Moscow first ordered Russian troops, armour, attack helicopters and logistical support vehicles to occupy the airport on February 27. A Ukrainian drone filmed them as they moved in and then opened fire, damaging several helicopters.

Undeterred, Russian commanders moved in more helicopters and scores more vehicles. Ukrainian artillery answered with a massive, concentrated bombardment against the airfield on March 7. Footage released by the Ukrainian military shows dozens of flashes lighting up whole sectors of the airfield in rapid succession, with rockets blowing apart the vehicles stationed there. The attack wiped out at least 30 helicopters and dozens more armoured vehicles, they said.

The Russians reinforced the airport a third time on March 15. Already zeroed in on the airfield co-ordinates, Ukrainian artillery commanders raised their eyebrows. They pounded it again.

The next day Russian helicopters were flown in a fourth time. Once more they were dispatched. Video filmed from the airport in the aftermath shows apocalyptic scenes of destruction and flaming wreckage, with Russian soldiers in shock at the devastation. Ukraine claimed it had destroyed three helicopters, then a further seven, in its fourth and fifth strikes.

At this stage, Russian Lieutenant General Andrei Mordvichev, commander of the Eighth Army, must have become concerned his operation was not going to plan. Bringing with him new armour, fuel tankers and equipment, he arrived to survey the scene on March 18.

He did not have to wait long. Already well-practised at shelling the airfield, Ukrainian commanders again gave the order to open fire, killing the replacement general and his reinforcements, they said.

President Zelensky of Ukraine highlighted the ongoing battle in a speech on March 20, saying it would “go down in military history”.

 “This is a place where the Russian military and their commanders have shown themselves completely as they are — incompetent, capable only of driving their people to slaughter,” he said.

“Six times our military have destroyed the occupiers near Chornobayivka. Six times! And they still come there!”

The next day, March 21, satellite imagery showed the Russians had finally withdrawn their helicopters. At last, sense must have prevailed, the embattled locals thought, emerging from their basements.

But the Kremlin choppers were back the next day. They were hit again.

“We can feel the ground shaking every time the airport is hit,” said Tatarinova. “It happens nearly every day. If it’s night, we can see huge flashes, if during the day it’s very loud.”

And the next day. And the following day. Friday marked the tenth time Russia had reinforced the airbase and been hit by a successful Ukrainian strike, resulting in the death of another commander, Lieutenant General Yakov Rezantsev.

“The Russians are unprofessional on all levels — from the top to the technical,” said Oleksiy Melnyk, a retired colonel and director at the Razumkov centre, a Ukrainian think tank.

 “I served in the Soviet air force for ten years, I fully understand this is a result of Soviet mentality,” he said.

“They try to fulfil the order without questioning it. They are more afraid of being punished by commanders than failing their mission or losing their subordinates — it’s a completely different culture from the western one,” Melnyk said.

“One of the most important tasks of Ukrainian military reform over the past eight years — helped by British and US trainers — was encouraging initiative, changing the combat culture from the Soviet one. It has produced quite remarkable results,” he added, with a satisfied smile.