Ozerne is an air base of the

Ukrainian Air Force The Ukrainian Air Force ( uk, Пові́тряні си́ли Збро́йних сил Украї́ни) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Its headquarters are in the city of Vinnytsia. Wh ...

located near Ozerne,

Zhytomyr Oblast Zhytomyr Oblast ( uk, Жито́мирська о́бласть, translit=Zhytomyrska oblast), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna ( uk, Жито́мирщина}) is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the obla ...

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

Sukhoi Su-27 The Sukhoi Su-27 (russian: Сухой Су-27; NATO reporting name: Flanker) is a Soviet-origin twin-engine supermaneuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. It was intended as a direct competitor for the large US fourth-generation je ...

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 (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

and expanded 1942 by the German

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

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

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

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 ( NATO reporting name: Blinder) was the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. Manufactured by Tupolev, the Tu-22 entered service with the Soviet military in the 1960s. The aircraft was a disappoint ...

(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 ( uk, Бі́ла Це́рква ; ) is a city in the center of Ukraine, the largest city in Kyiv Oblast (after Kyiv, which is the administrative center, but not part of the oblast), and part of the Right Bank. It serves as the admi ...

Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast ( uk, Ки́ївська о́бласть, translit=Kyïvska oblast), also called Kyivshchyna ( uk, Ки́ївщина), is an oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, w ...

) 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 ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

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

Minsk Oblast Minsk Region or Minsk Oblast or Minsk Voblasts ( be, Мі́нская во́бласць, ''Minskaja voblasć'' ; russian: Минская о́бласть, ''Minskaya oblast'') is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative center is Minsk, ...

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

Brest Oblast Brest Region or Brest Oblast or Brest Voblasts ( be, Брэ́сцкая во́бласць ''(Bresckaja vobłasć)''; russian: Бре́стская о́бласть (''Brestskaya Oblast)'') is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative cent ...

, Belarusian SSR) 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 in World War II, which then served with the Sov ...

. This regiment was part of

28th Air Defence Corps 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of the ...

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 (NATO reporting name: Blinder) was the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. Manufactured by Tupolev, the Tu-22 entered service with the Soviet military in the 1960s. The aircraft was a disappointme ...

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 computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...

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, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

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

apron An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

as a result of Russian missile strike.

References

{{Reflist Soviet Long Range Aviation bases Soviet Air Defence Force bases Ukrainian airbases Zhytomyr Raion