Taganrog-Central Air Base (Tsentralnyy)

Taganrog-Central is a military airfield located in Taganrog, Rostov Oblast, Russia. Its history dates back to 1938 with the establishment of the Taganrog military school of pilots. Since 1948, it hosted the Higher Officer Flight Tactical Courses, which trained assault air regiment pilots. The 963rd Aviation Regiment of the EYVAUL was stationed here from 1960 until its disbandment in November 1994. In April–May 1992, the 708th Military Transport Aviation Regiment was transferred to Taganrog from Ganja, Azerbaijan. This regiment was later reorganized into the 5th Aviation Group of the 6955th Guards Minsk Aviation Base. The base is also home to the 325th Aircraft Repair Plant, which has been located in Taganrog since 1948 and specializes in repairing transport aircraft such as the Antonov An-12, Antonov An-72, and units for Ilyushin Il-76, Tupolev Tu-142, Sukhoi Su-25, Sukhoi Su-27, Mil Mi-8, and Mil Mi-24 helicopters. In the early 1990s, a base for the liquidation of front-line aviation equipment was formed at the plant. As part of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian aircraft initially deployed to Belarus were redeployed to Taganrog-Central during August 2022. The airfield has an aviation museum established in 1995, which displays various aircraft types and aviation equipment.