Zyabrovka (also Pribytki) is a military air base located 16 km southeast of
Gomel,
Gomel Region
Gomel Region or Gomel Oblast or Homiel Voblasts ( be, Го́мельская во́бласць, Homielskaja vobłasć, russian: Гомельская область, Gomelskaya oblast) is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative center i ...
,
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
.
From November 1951 to July 1957 the
50th Air Army
5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...
of
Long-Range Aviation
Long-Range Aviation ( rus, Авиация Дальнего Действия, r=Aviatsiya dal'nego deystviya, abbr. to AДД, or ADD, and literally ''Aviation of Distant Action'') is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces responsible for delive ...
included the 144th Fighter Aviation Division with its headquarters at
Mogilev
Mogilev (russian: Могилёв, Mogilyov, ; yi, מאָלעוו, Molev, ) or Mahilyow ( be, Магілёў, Mahilioŭ, ) is a city in eastern Belarus, on the Dnieper River, about from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from the bor ...
,
Mogilev Oblast
Mogilev Region or Mogilev Oblast or Mahiliow Voblasts ( be, link=no, Магілёўская вобласць; ''Mahiloŭskaja voblasć''; russian: link=no, Могилёвская область; ''Mogilyovskaya Oblast''), is a region (''oblast'' ...
,
Belorussian SSR. The division's 439th Fighter Aviation Regiment was flying MiG-15s and MiG-17s during that period from Zyabrovka. The regiment disbanded on 1 April 1958.
By the early 1960s
Tupolev Tu-16R aircraft were flying from the base. The airfield was renovated in 1963.
It received the
Tu-22R around 1966, and by 1967 had 24 based there.
Pribytki was one of nine major operating locations for the
Tupolev Tu-22 Blinder in the mid-1960s. The reconnaissance aircraft were tasked with operations in the Baltic and northern Europe.
From 1973 into the 1980s pilots from Libya and Iraq trained in the Tu-22 here.
The Tu-22 units were disbanded in 1994 and the aircraft sent to
Engels-2
Engels Air Force Base (russian: Энгельс, formally Engels-2) is a strategic bomber military airbase in Russia located east of Saratov. Engels is a major bomber operations base, and is Russia's sole operating location for the Tupolev Tu- ...
for disposal.
Pribytki was home to 290 Gv ODRAP (290th Guards Long Range Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment) flying
Tu-16R from the early 1960s to 1994 and the
Tu-22RDM from the 1960s to 1994;
plus a number of
Tu-22R aircraft.
From 1960 to 1980 the regiment was part of the 6th Heavy Bomber Aviation Corps, and from 1980 to 1994, the
46th Air Army. (Holm)
During the
2022 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 ...
the Russian military deployed attack helicopters here.
References
External links
*Micheal Holm, http://www.ww2.dk/new/air%20force/regiment/bap/290odrap.htm
Soviet Air Force bases
Soviet Long Range Aviation
Military installations of Belarus
Airports in Belarus
{{Belarus-transport-stub
Belarusian Air Force