“Steel Birds”: a film about Ukrainian pilots who broke through the blockade of Mariupol is released (video)

05/14/2026

Spring 2022: Mariupol is completely surrounded — but Azovstal is still holding on. The whole world is watching the fate of the Mariupol garrison with bated breath. It was then that Ukrainian pilots and reconnaissance units of the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine carried out a daring operation — they broke through the Russian defenses in helicopters to reach the defenders of the plant.

Director Serhiy Storozhev worked on the film “Steel Birds” with the support of the GUR, the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, representatives of the Azov Special Operations Group and the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine. The authors processed a huge amount of historical materials and recorded the testimonies of real participants in that operation – people for whom it became the most important decision in life, made at a crucial moment.“Steel Birds” is a film about risking one’s life for the sake of life and about hope that appears at the peak of despair. From a bold plan to its implementation – the airlift to the besieged Mariupol became one of the operations that decided the fate of the garrison, and ultimately – the subsequent events of the Russian-Ukrainian war.