Aleysk was an air base in Altai Krai,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

located 6 km west of

Aleysk Aleysk (russian: Але́йск) is a town in Altai Krai, Russia, located on the Aley River ( Ob's tributary), southwest of Barnaul. Population: 32,000 (1968). Administrative and municipal status Within the framework of administrative div ...

. It comprises the remains of a small airfield, razed during the 1990s to make way for a military training range.

Station history

The Aleysk area was once the home to a division of the

Strategic Rocket Forces The Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation or the Strategic Missile Forces of the Russian Federation (RVSN RF; russian: Ракетные войска стратегического назначения Российской Фед� ...

, the 41st Guards Lvovsko-Berlinskaya orders of Kutuzov and Bogdan Khmelnitskiy Missile Division. There were 30 silos for RS-20/SS-18 'Satan' ICBMs in the area, but from late 2000 through 2002, the silos were destroyed in accordance with US/Soviet arms reduction treaties. The process was managed by US Government contractors under the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program and observed/verified by

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

representatives according to

START I START I (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was a bilateral treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the reduction and the limitation of strategic offensive arms. The treaty was signed on 31 July 1991 and entered into force on 5 De ...

elimination requirements. The final regiment went off duty on 31 August 2001, and the Division was disbanded on 1 December 2001. The SRF's Aleysk military garrison area, which included housing, a school, three kindergartens, a swimming pool, and a large amount of other equipment, was transferred to the 122nd Guards Motor Rifle Division of the

Siberian Military District The Siberian Military District was a Military district of the Russian Ground Forces. The district was originally formed as a military district of the Russian Empire in 1864. In 1924 it was reformed in the Red Army. After the end of World War II the ...

Ground Forces An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

by 2005. The 122nd Guards Motor Rifle Division became the 35th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade in June 2009. In early 2022 it entered combat as part of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

References

* *'All 30 of the Silos which contained RS 20 nuclear ICBMs that are famous throughout the world under the name 'Satan', have been destroyed in Altay Kray', Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Moscow, 24 January 2002, p. 9, via Foreign Broadcast Information Service, FBIS-SOV-2002-0124. Soviet Air Defence Force bases Strategic Rocket Forces Military installations of Russia {{Russia-mil-stub