Shaykovka air base (Russian: Шайковка; State airfields index: ЬУБЙ), also given variously as Kirov Shaykovka, Anisovo Gorod, Anisovo Gorodishche, Shaykovo, Shajkovka, Gorodische, Chaikovka, is an airbase of the Russian Aerospace Forces in Kaluga Oblast, Russia located 17 km north of Kirov, Kaluga Oblast. It is a large airfield with hangars and an extensive alert area for fighters. NASA's FIRMS indicates the runway overrun has been hardened to extend the runway to 3000 m. In 2000, Tupolev Tu-160, Tupolev Tu-95MS, and Tupolev Tu-22M3 aircraft operated out of this base during a training exercise.[1] The Natural Resources Defense Council listed the base as a nuclear site in a study.[citation needed]
Shaykovka | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
авиабаза Шайковка | |||||||
| Kirov, Kaluga Oblast in Russia | |||||||
 Satellite imagery of Shaykovka air base | |||||||
 Tu-22M landing at Shaykovka in 2017 | |||||||
  Shaykovka Shown within Kaluga Oblast  Shaykovka Shaykovka (Russia) | |||||||
| Coordinates | 54°13′36″N 34°22′18″E / 54.22667°N 34.37167°E | ||||||
| Type | Air Base | ||||||
| Site information | |||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||
| Operator | Russian Aerospace Forces | ||||||
| Controlled by | Long-Range Aviation | ||||||
| Site history | |||||||
| Built | 1937 | ||||||
| In use | 1937 - present | ||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||
| Identifiers | ICAO: XUBJ | ||||||
| Elevation | 203 metres (666 ft) AMSL | ||||||
| |||||||
As of 2020, the 52nd Heavy Bomber Regiment of the 22nd Guards Heavy Bomber Division was still reported resident at the base flying Tu-22M3 Backfires.[2][3] In 2021 Tu-22M3 Backfires from the base forward deployed to Russian bases in Syria for operations and exercises in the region.[4]
History
editThis section needs expansion with: what is the history of this unit after it transitioned from Soviet Union to Russia after dissolution of the Soviet Union?. You can help by adding to it. (October 2024) |
The airfield was built by 1937, when the 13th Separate High-Speed Bomber Aviation Squadron of the Air Forces of the Belorussian Military District with Tupolev SB bombers was stationed there.[5]
Units stationed here have included the 73rd gv. iap (73-й гв. иап: гвардейский истребительный авиационный полк - 73rd Guards Interceptor Aviation Regiment) flying Mikoyan MiG-29 aircraft in the 1990s and 2000s; and the 52nd gv. tbap (152-й гв. тбап: гвардейский тяжелый бомбардировочный авиаполк - 52nd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment) flying Tupolev Tu-16 bombers, taking on 19 Tupolev Tu-22M aircraft starting in 1982,[6] and transitioning to an ITBAP (Instructor Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment) in 1989.[citation needed]
Syrian Civil War
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On December 12, 2017, a ceremony was held at Shaykovka air base when a fleet of Tu-22M3 returned from the Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war. Lieutenant general and long-range-aviation commander Sergey Kobylash awarded the returning crews with the medal "Participant of the military operation in Syria". Attendants in the ceremony included crew relatives, veterans and representatives of Yunarmiya.[7][8]
Russian invasion of Ukraine
editOn 27 June 2022, the Russian Armed Forces fired two Kh-22 anti-ship missiles into central Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, Ukraine, hitting the Amstor shopping mall and the Kredmash road machinery plant. A fire broke out; the attack killed at least 20 people and injured at least 56. The anti-ship missiles were launched from Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bombers that took off from the Shaykovka air base.[citation needed]
On 7 October 2022 there were reports of a kamikaze drone attack on the air base, destroying two Tu-22M3 bombers. [9]
On 20 October 2024, the Shaykovka air base chief of staff and bomber pilot responsible for recent attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, was found dead in an apple orchard in Bryansk Oblast, apparently a targeted assassination. Dmitry Vladimirovich Golenkov was reportedly responsible for the missile attacks on the Kremenchuk Shopping Mall (22 deaths, with >1000 in the buildings at the time) Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, in June 2022, and the Dnipro apartment building which killed 46 people in January 2023 in Dnipro.[10][11] Golenkov had earlier spoken with a journalist about the attacks.[12]
See also
editReferences
editCitations
edit- ^ "Полёты на аэродроме Шайковка". airforce.ru. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
- ^ "Russian Military Forces: Interactive Map".
- ^ "Russian Air Force - Shaykovka (UUBJ)". Scramble.nl. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ "Russian Tu-22M3 Backfire Bombers Based in Syria Are Going to Patrol the Mediterranean". 25 May 2021.
- ^ Simonov & Bodrikhin 2017, pp. 360–361.
- ^ "Dal'nyaya Aviatsiya". Aviabaza KPOI.
- ^ "Ту-22М3 вернулись на аэродром дислокации после выполнения задач в Сирии" [Tu-22M3 returned to the deployment air base after completing missions in Syria]. TASS (in Russian). 2017-12-12. Retrieved 2024-10-23.
- ^ "Tu-22M3 aircraft return back home in Kaluga region from North Ossetia". eng.mil.ru. 2017-12-12. Retrieved 2024-10-23.
- ^ Howard, Altman; Tyler, Rogoway (7 October 2022). "Ukrainian Kamikaze Drone Attacks Bomber Base Deep In Russia". The Drive. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ "Russian high-ranking pilot found dead in Bryansk Oblast, military intelligence says". Kyiv Independent. 20 October 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
- ^ "Russian Pilot Responsible for Kremenchuk and Dnipro Attacks Found Dead, Intelligence Reports". United24 Media. 20 October 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
- ^ ""Did I press the button or sit on the plane?": journalists talked to the occupiers involved in the strike on the Dnieper". Ukrainian Pravda (in Ukrainian). 17 January 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
Bibliography
edit- Simonov, Andrey; Bodrikhin, Nikolai (2017). Боевые лётчики — дважды и трижды Герои Советского Союза. Moscow: Фонд «Русские Витязи», Музей техники Вадима Задорожного. ISBN 9785990960510. OCLC 1005741956.
External links
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