No passengers for a while yet “AT THE beginning of the 1930s, the creators of this airport had no idea what a high-tech facility it would become,” said President Viktor Yanukovych at the opening in 2012 of Donetsk’s new international airport, named after the composer Sergei Prokofiev. He had no idea what a wreck it would become. After eight months of fighting, the buildings are in ruins. Deep craters dot the runway, alongside aircraft hulks. Renewed clashes are reigniting a war that has claimed 5,000 lives.Since May 2014 Ukrainian troops at the airport have been under attack, earning the nickname “cyborgs”. Fighting has taken place at close quarters, often within the same buildings. Petro Poroshenko, the current president, praised the cyborgs for representing the “invincibility of the Ukrainian spirit”. But as the legend grew, so did the political risk of losing it.Its symbolic importance made the airport a key target for the separatists. After a holiday lull they began pounding again in mid-January. The Russian media soon aired footage of rebels raising their flag above the rubble, so Mr Poroshenko ordered a counter-offensive. But…
