Shatalovo Air Base (Pochinok)

Shatalovo is a military air base located in Pochinok, Smolensk Oblast, Russia. It was built in 1968 and has been in continuous use since then. The base is owned by the Ministry of Defence and operated by the Russian Aerospace Forces, controlled by the 6th Air and Air Defence Forces Army. It is a hardened air base with pads for 19 bombers and 15 fighters. Historically, it was identified as a nuclear bomber base (Su-24). During the 1980s, it hosted Soviet tactical reconnaissance aircraft regiments, including the Sukhoi Su-24M, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25R, and Yakovlev Yak-28R. The German Luftwaffe maintained two airfields in the local area during World War II, one of which, "Shatalovka-West," became the current Soviet and later Russian air base. The 32nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was stationed at Shatalovo from 1968 until its disbandment in 1989. In the 1990s, the base was home to the 164th Independent Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (164th ORAP) and the 47th Guards Independent Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (47 Gv ORAP), operating Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 and Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft. The 1046th Aircrew Combat Training and Retraining Centre also used the base in 1991. As of February 2022, the base houses the 4th Independent Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron, equipped with Sukhoi Su-24MR and Antonov An-30 aircraft. The base has been involved in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.