Vasylkiv (also Vasyl'kiv) was an air base of the Ukrainian Air Force located near Vasylkiv,

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 ...

, Ukraine. The base was home to the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade.

History

On the beginning of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

in June 1941, the airfield was host to the 36th Fighter Aviation Division of the Air Defence Forces, comprising the 2nd, 43rd, 254th, and 255th Fighter Aviation Regiments. Units stationed at Vasylkiv included the 146th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (146 Gv IAP) flying 41

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (; NATO reporting name: Foxbat) is a Supersonic aircraft, supersonic Interceptor aircraft, interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft that is among the Flight airspeed record, fastest military aircraft to enter service ...

PD aircraft. The regiment arrived at the base in 1950. The regiment was subordinate to the 19th Air Defence Division, which was reorganised as the 49th Air Defence Corps in June 1989. Both formations were part of the 8th Air Defence Army. The regiment was taken over by Ukraine on 1 June 1992 and then disbanded 1 June 1993. The 92nd Red Banner Fighter Aviation Regiment arrived from Mukachevo (air base) in 1993, and was briefly stationed at the base before disbanding in 1994. The regiment was flying

Mikoyan MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG-29, along with the larger Suk ...

s at the time. The air base was the focus of fighting during the Battle of Vasylkiv, part of the Kyiv offensive in the

2022 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 ...

. It was damaged on 12 March 2022 along with its airstrip after Russian missile strikes.

Aircraft

According to Google Earth imagery, as of March 3, 2020 * 35

MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twinjet, twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG-29, along with the large ...

* 4 L-39 Albatros

References

{{reflist 1938 establishments in Ukraine 2022 disestablishments in Ukraine Defunct airports in Ukraine Soviet military air bases in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Soviet Air Defence Force bases Former military air bases in Ukraine Vasylkiv Buildings and structures destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukrainian airbases