Kedainiai is an airport in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

located 45 km north of

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

in Daukšiai. It has 28 large pads. Aeronautical sources list it as "civilian", its military use has been long retired. There is a large hangar as well, that houses a variety of privately owned light aircraft. The civilian aircraft usually operate from the taxiways, as they are more than adequate for light aircraft. It also often hosts auto racing on the main runways, both

drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, mos ...

and drift courses. The airport was built in the period of

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

control during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was the base for 600 VTAP (600th Military Transport Aviation Regiment) flying

Il-76 The Ilyushin Il-76 (; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau as a commercial freighter in 1967, to replace the Antonov An-12. ...

and

An-12 The Antonov An-12 (Russian language, Russian: Антонов Ан-12; NATO reporting name: Cub) is a four-engined turboprop Cargo aircraft, transport aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. It is the military version of the Antonov An-10 and has ...

from September 1958, until 1992 when the unit was relocated to

Shadrinsk Shadrinsk () is a town in Kurgan Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Iset River ( Ob's basin) northwest of Kurgan. Population: History Shadrinsk was founded in 1662 as an agricultural and trade settlement. Shadrinsk hosted th ...

Kurgan Oblast Kurgan Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Kurgan. According to the 2021 Census, the population was 776,661, down from 910,807 recorded in the 2010 Census. History Formed by De ...

. While in Lithuania the regiment was under command of the 3rd Guards, 12th and 18th (4.66 - 1998)

Military Transport Aviation The Military Transport Aviation Command ( — '' Komandovaniye voyenno-transportnoy aviatsii (VTA)'') was a major component of the former Soviet Air Forces, active from the Cold War period, through the dissolution of the Soviet Union, to 1998–1 ...

Divisions. During the 1980s, under

glasnost ''Glasnost'' ( ; , ) is a concept relating to openness and transparency. It has several general and specific meanings, including a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information and the inadmissi ...

, the Soviet government admitted the crimes of the Stalinist era and allowed the long overdue repatriation of the remains of Lithuanian victims to return from Siberia. The Soviet government did not want the arrivals of the repatriation flights to become public spectacles, further inflaming the rising nationalist sentiments, so the remains were flown into Kedainai and then transported to Vilnius and Kaunas.

Former uses

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

References

Former Soviet military air bases in Lithuania Airports in Lithuania Buildings and structures in Kėdainiai Lithuanian airbases {{Lithuania-transport-stub