Olenya (also Olenegorsk) is a major

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

base, located on the

Kola Peninsula The Kola Peninsula (; ) is a peninsula in the extreme northwest of Russia, and one of the largest peninsulas of Europe. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely inside the Arctic Circle and is border ...

92 km south of

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

. As of 2020, units at the base were subordinate to the

Long-Range Aviation Long Range Aviation may refer to the following: * Soviet Long Range Aviation, the branch of the Soviet Air Force responsible for long-range nuclear or conventional strikes by aircraft, until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 * Ukrainian L ...

branch of the

Russian Aerospace Forces The Russian Aerospace Forces or Russian Air and Space Forces (VKS) comprise the air force, aerial, space force, space warfare, and Missile defense, missile defence Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It was ...

. The base and its staff settlement ( Vysoky, Murmansk Oblast), across Lake Permusozero from the city of Olenegorsk, are served by the Olenegorsk rail station (formerly Olenya station). Olenya has served as the headquarters for five MRAD (Naval Reconnaissance Air Division), and has hosted two reconnaissance regiments. Its 3500-meter runway is the longest on the Kola Peninsula, making it a key facility for intercontinental flights across the North Atlantic basin. The base is home to the 40th Composite Aviation Regiment as part of the 22nd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division.

History

Olenya was first detected by US intelligence in 1957, and was listed as having a runway length of 3350 m (11,000 ft). The base served as a forward deployment field for Long Range Aviation and was one of nine Arctic staging facilities for nuclear strikes on the United States.STRATEGIC ARMS LIMITATIONS RELATED ACTIVITIES SUMMARY REPORT (SANITIZED)
June 1, 1980, CREST: CIA-RDP80T01355A000100140001-2, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC. An analysis in 1966 revealed 21

Tupolev Tu-16 The Tupolev Tu-16 (USAF/DOD reporting name Type 39; NATO reporting name: Badger) is a twin-engined jet strategic heavy bomber used by the Soviet Union. It has been flown for almost 70 years. While many aircraft in Soviet service were retired af ...

Badger aircraft. Near the airfield is the

Olenegorsk Radar Station Olenegorsk Radar Station (also described as Olenegorsk-1 () or Murmansk) is the site of a Soviet and Russian early warning radar. It is located near Olenegorsk on the Kola Peninsula, north of the Arctic Circle in north west Russia. It is consid ...

ballistic missile early warning site, which entered service in 1971. A number of

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

sites were operational near Olenya during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. During the 1960s and 1970s, Olenya was used as a refueling stop on the

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Tupolev Tu-114 The Tupolev Tu-114 Rossiya (; NATO reporting name Cleat) is a retired large turboprop-powered long-range airliner designed by the Tupolev design bureau and built in the Soviet Union from May 1955. The aircraft was the largest and fastest passenge ...

route. As of 2006,

Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

imagery showed nearly 40

Tupolev Tu-22M The Tupolev Tu-22M (; NATO reporting name: Backfire) is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing, long-range strategic and maritime strike bomber developed by the Tupolev, Tupolev Design Bureau in the 1960s. The bomber was reported as being designated ...

bombers on the airfield, but by 2018 only four of the aircraft appeared serviceable with another 27 aircraft awaiting disposal. On 7 October 2022, satellite photos showed 7

Tu-160 The Tupolev Tu-160 (; NATO reporting name: Blackjack) is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing nuclear-capable heavy strategic bomber and airborne missile platform designed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the Soviet Union in the 1970s. The aircra ...

and 4

Tu-95 The Tupolev Tu-95 (; NATO reporting name: "Bear") is a large, four-engine turboprop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform. First flown in 1952, the Tu-95 entered service with the Long-Range Aviation of the Soviet Air Forces in 1956 and ...

at the air base.

Stationed units

Units stationed at the airfield during the Cold War included: * 924th Naval Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (924 MRAP), operating

aircraft * 88th Separate Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment (88 OMAPIB), operating

Mikoyan MiG-27 The Mikoyan MiG-27 (; NATO reporting name: Flogger-D/J) is a variable-sweep wing, variable-sweep attack aircraft, ground-attack aircraft, originally built by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union and later licence-pro ...

aircraft, disbanded August 1995. * Operational Group Arctic (OGA), maintaining standby facilities for

Tupolev Tu-95 The Tupolev Tu-95 (; NATO reporting name: "Bear") is a large, four-engine turboprop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform. Maiden flight, First flown in 1952, the Tu-95 entered service with the Soviet Long Range Aviation, Long-Range Avia ...

bomber aircraft In 2020, the Tu-22M3-based unit may now be the 40th Mixed Aviation Regiment operating in both a maritime-attack and land-strike role.

Notable events

The Tu-95V aircraft carrying the

Tsar Bomba The Tsar Bomba (code name: ''Ivan'' or ''Vanya''), also known by the alphanumerical designation "AN602", was a Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear aerial bomb, and by far the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested. The Soviet phy ...

, the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated, took off from the airbase on 30 October 1961. After a training flight on 22 January 2019, a Tu-22M3 broke up upon making a hard landing in inclement weather at the airbase. Two of the four crew members died in the crash, and a third died on his way to the hospital. According to

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...

, the first test launch of the

Kh-47M2 Kinzhal The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal ( rus, Х-47М2 Кинжал, p=kʲɪn'ʐaɫ, 'Dagger'; NATO reporting name: AS-24 Killjoy) is a Russian air-launched ballistic missile. It has an estimated range of and a reported top speed of Mach 10. It can carry either ...

dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually one or two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a cutting or stabbing, thrusting weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or ...

", a nuclear-capable

air-launched ballistic missile An air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) is a ballistic missile launched from an aircraft. An ALBM allows the launch aircraft to stand off at long distances from its target, keeping it well outside the range of defensive weapons like anti-aircr ...

) in the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

took place mid-November 2019 from the airbase. Reportedly, the launch was carried out by a MiG-31K, where the missile hit a ground target at Pemboy proving ground, reaching a speed of Mach 10.

Russo-Ukrainian War

In July 2024 Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence claimed they attacked the base with a drone and hit a Tu-22M3 bomber. The attack is not confirmed by independent sources. On 1 June 2025, as part of

Operation Spider's Web Operation Spider's Web () was a Covert operation, covert drone attack carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) deep inside Russia on 1 June 2025, during the Russo-Ukrainian War. The coordinated strikes targeted the Russian Air Fo ...

, a swarm of Ukrainian short-range drones attacked the airbase, causing multiple explosions and fire. First-person videos published on various social media platforms, showing drones attacking various

Tupolev Tupolev ( rus, Туполев, , ˈtupəlʲɪf), officially United Aircraft Company Tupolev - Public Joint Stock Company, is a Russian aerospace and Arms industry, defence company headquartered in Basmanny District, Moscow. UAC Tupolev is succes ...

long-range bombers. A similar attack targeted the Belaya,

Ivanovo Severny Ivanovo Severny (also Ivanovo air base and Ivanovo North) is an air base in Russia located 6 km north of Ivanovo. It is a large transport operation airfield with hangars and significant tarmac space. The runway was built in 1935 and upgra ...

, and

Dyagilevo Dyagilevo (also given as Dyagilevo, Ryazan Dyagilevo) is a military air base in Ryazan Oblast, Russia, 3 km west of Ryazan. It serves as a training center for Russia's strategic bomber force. , the base was home to the 203rd Guards Orlovsky ...

air bases at the same time.

References

External links