Bel Airfield

The airfield was closed due to military downsizing and restructuring following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The resident aviation regiment, the 28th Fighter Aviation Regiment, was disbanded as part of the reorganization of the armed forces of the newly independent Republic of Belarus. The base was deemed surplus to the requirements of the new, smaller Belarusian Air Force, and its closure was driven by the new military doctrine and economic constraints of the era.

The airfield is completely abandoned and non-operational. Satellite imagery shows the main runway, taxiways, and aircraft revetments are still clearly visible but are in a state of advanced decay, with cracks, crumbling concrete, and significant vegetation growth. The site is not maintained for any aviation purposes. Some of the former barracks, hangars, and support buildings have been repurposed for civilian industrial use, reportedly including a sawmill and woodworking enterprise. The airfield is effectively a brownfield site with derelict military infrastructure.

Bel Airfield, more commonly known as Krichev Air Base, was a significant Soviet Air Force facility during the Cold War. Its primary role was to host fighter aircraft as part of the 26th Air Army, located in the strategically critical Belorussian Military District. The base was home to the 28th Fighter Aviation Regiment (28th IAP). This regiment was initially equipped with Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MLD (Flogger-K) fighters. In the late 1980s, reflecting its importance, the regiment was one of the units re-equipped with the modern 4th-generation Mikoyan MiG-29 (Fulcrum-C) fighters. The base featured a 2,500-meter concrete runway and a large number of hardened aircraft shelters (revetments) in a dispersed layout, typical of Soviet forward air bases designed to enhance survivability against a potential NATO attack.

There are no known official plans or credible prospects for reopening Bel Airfield. The cost of restoring the heavily degraded infrastructure, including the runway and all support systems, would be prohibitive. The Belarusian Air Force operates from a smaller number of consolidated and modernized air bases, and there is no stated strategic or economic need to reactivate the Krichev facility for either military or civilian use.