Chelyabinsk Air Base (Shagol)

Chelyabinsk Shagol is a military airfield of the Russian Aerospace Forces located in Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. The airport was opened in 1938 as the first airport in Chelyabinsk, operating passenger flight services and serving as the primary airport until 1953. It was then re-purposed for military use, housing aircraft of the Soviet Air Force and the local pilot training school, the Chelyabinsk Red Banner Military Aviation Institute of Navigators. OJSC "712 Aviation Repair Plant" was founded in 1954 at the site. During the Cold War, it served as a military bomber training base, with approximately 35 Tupolev Tu-134 UBLs based there as recently as 1995. In 2005, the 239 Separate Mixed Aviation Regiment was reportedly based at the airfield. In August 2007, Shagol was utilized for military exercises of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Since 2010, it has served as the base for the 6980th Guards Aviation Base (Military Unit Number 69806).

The base is currently home to the 108th Training Aviation Regiment, which operates Antonov An-26, Antonov An-72, and Mil Mi-8 aircraft under the Prof. N.E. Zhukovsky and Iu.A. Gagarin Air Force Academy. Additionally, the 2nd Guards Composite Aviation Regiment, flying Sukhoi Su-24 MR and Sukhoi Su-34 aircraft under the 21st Composite Aviation Division, is stationed here. In 2015, one of the Su-24s based at Shagol was shot down in Syria. On January 3, 2024, a Su-34 bomber at the airport was reportedly set on fire. The airfield is also used for air shows. Due to its location within Chelyabinsk, aircraft operations have led to noise complaints from local residents, resulting in a 2013 court order to suspend Su-24 flights, which was later overturned but required an increase in glideslope angle.