KYIV. Jan 15 (Interfax-Ukraine) – On Saturday, January 16, Kyiv will host an evening to commemorate the last defenders of the Donetsk airport, namely 59 'cyborgs', who died while defending this airfield in January, 2014.

"On January 16, at 1500, the House of Officers will host an event to commemorate the last defenders of the Donetsk airport. They are the last because around 60 volunteers who stepped forward to defend this area died on January 19-20, 2014, after militants blew up the columns which supported the concrete slabs of the building," Board Chairman of the All-Ukrainian Alliance of ATO Fighters and Volunteers Oleksiy Kopyshynsky said at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

He said that after militants blew up the columns, the negotiations as to the possibility for Ukrainian search groups to enter the territory of the airport had lasted for two months. The groups have worked for six months and as of today the remains of 59 of the Donetsk airport defenders have already been identified.

As reported, the search for those killed at the Donetsk airport was conducted in the presence of representatives of the OSCE, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Joint Center for Control and Coordination overseeing the ceasefire and stabilization of the contact line.

"Relatives of those killed have put forward an initiative to hold a remembrance evening. And we want to appeal to authorities to declare January 20 the National Day of Remembrance of the Legendary 'Cyborgs'," Kopyshynsky said.

In his turn, head of the NGO 'NAPALM' Association of ATO Participants Myroslav Farfaniuk urged the public and the authorities to do their best to honor all the fallen defenders of the Donetsk airport.

"Relatives of the victims should receive all the attention, all the benefits, the land plots – everything that the government has promised," he said.

The program of the evening to commemorate the Donetsk airport defenders includes the following events: a ceremony to award the families of the killed solders with decorations, a video story about lives of each of the 'cyborgs', and a concert-requiem.

Besides, an evening to honor the fallen defenders of the Donetsk airport and pay tribute to those who survived, as well as a funeral march will take place on Mykhaylivska Square on January 22.