Ozerne is an air base of the

Ukrainian Air Force The Ukrainian Air Force (, PS ZSU) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ZSU). Its current form was created in 2004 by merging the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces into the Air Fo ...

located near Ozerne,

Zhytomyr Oblast Zhytomyr Oblast (), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna (), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Zhytomyr. Its population is approximately H ...

, Ukraine. The base is home to the 39th Tactical Aviation Brigade flying

Sukhoi Su-27 The Sukhoi Su-27 (; NATO reporting name: Flanker) is a Soviet Union, Soviet-origin twinjet, twin-engine supersonic Supermaneuverability, supermaneuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. It was intended as a direct competitor for the lar ...

UB and Aero L-39C Albatross aircraft. Ozerne (, given in source material under the plethora of names: ''Zhytomyr Ozerna'', ''Ozernyy'', ''Ozernoye'', ''Oziernoye'', ''Ozernoe'', ''Ozernoye'', ''Ozyornoye'', ''Ozyornaya'', and in US intelligence as ''Zhitomir/Skomorokhi'').

History

The airbase was erected 1933 by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

and expanded 1942 by the German

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

and was called ''Flughafen Hegewald''. Nearby were the headquarters of

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...

and the base was surrounded by the settlements of the new German Hegewald colony. 15th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division was stationed at the base from 1945 to 1994. In 1965 Ozerne began receiving

Tupolev Tu-22 The Tupolev Tu-22 ( Air Standardization Coordinating Committee name: Blinder) was the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. Manufactured by Tupolev, the Tu-22 entered service with Long-Range Aviation and Soviet Nav ...

(Blinder) aircraft. By 1967 it had 31 Tu-22 aircraft, and in 1968 it received Tu-22PD aircraft. A Tu-22 crash-landed here in 1969 due to a stall during the landing flare; this incident was captured by a movie camera and used in the motion picture ''Tenderness for the Roaring Beast''. In December 1989 the 251st Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment (

Bila Tserkva Bila Tserkva ( ; , ) is a city in central Ukraine. It is situated on the Ros (river), Ros River in the historical region of right-bank Ukraine. It is the largest city in Kyiv Oblast (which does not include the city of Kyiv) and serves as the ...

Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast (, ), also called Kyivshchyna (, ), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, which is administered as a city with special sta ...

) with Tu-16K were transferred under the control of the 43rd Center for Combat Employment and Retraining of Personnel of Long Range Aviation, located in the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

. In 1990 the division comprised the: * 121st Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment (

Machulishchi Machulishchy is an urban-type settlement in Minsk District, Minsk Region, Belarus. In 2010, it had a population of 7,300.

, Minsk Oblast,

Belarusian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...

) with Tu-22K * 203rd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment ( Baranavichi, Brest Oblast,

) with Tu-22K * 341st Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment (Ozerne) with Tu-22K With the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the two regiments in Belarus were transferred to other commands and the 251st Regiment rejoined the division. Units stationed at Ozernoye include the: *

894th Fighter Aviation Regiment The 894th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Russian: 894-й истребительный авиационный полк), Military Unit Number 23257, was a fighter aviation regiment of the Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literal ...

. This regiment was part of

28th Air Defence Corps Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...

of the

8th Air Defence Army The 8th Separate Army of the Air Defence Forces (Military Unit Number 25342) was a Soviet military formation established in 1960. Army headquarters was in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR. The 8th air defense army was formed in March 1960 on the basis of the ...

(April 1986-January 1992). By 1994 under Ukraine resubordinated to Western Region Air Defence. * 341st Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment (341 TBAP) flying

Tu-22 The Tupolev Tu-22 ( Air Standardization Coordinating Committee name: Blinder) was the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. Manufactured by Tupolev, the Tu-22 entered service with Long-Range Aviation and Soviet Nava ...

M2 from 1965 until the 1990s and

PD from 1968 until the 1990s, and the

UD as recently as 1991. Under 15th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division from 1950 to 1992, (Holm) and at least up to 1994 (AFM March 1994). Currently the airfield is home to about 15 advanced fighter aircraft visible in

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 ...

high-resolution imagery. The north airfield appears to contain a huge army salvage yard. Since 2018 the base is the home of the 39th Tactical Aviation Brigade of the

. A

crash landed on December 15, 2018, while approaching the airfield during a training flight. The pilot, Maj. Oleksandr Fomenko, did not survive the crash. During the opening hours of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

on 24 February 2022, a Su-27 and refueling vehicle were destroyed at

apron An apron is a garment worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body to protect from liquids. They have several purposes, most commonly as a functional accessory that protects clothes and skin from stains and marks. However, other typ ...

as a result of Russian missile strike.

References

{{Reflist Soviet military air bases in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Soviet Long Range Aviation bases Soviet Air Defence Force bases Ukrainian airbases Zhytomyr Raion