Tarosovo Airstrip

Military downsizing and strategic realignment. The airstrip was a reserve/dispersal field for the nearby Veshchevo Air Base. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fighter-bomber regiment at Veshchevo was relocated, and the associated military infrastructure, including the Tarosovo strip, was deemed unnecessary and abandoned due to the new geopolitical situation and economic constraints.

The site is completely abandoned and in a state of severe disrepair. The concrete runway is still intact but is heavily cracked, weathered, and overgrown with weeds and small trees. There are no remaining buildings of significance or any operational equipment. The location is unsecured and has become a destination for urban explorers, photographers, and is sometimes used for unauthorized activities like illegal street racing and drifting.

Tarosovo was a strategic Cold War-era military reserve airfield, known in Russian as a 'zapasnoy aerodrom'. Its primary function was to serve as an alternate landing and dispersal location for the Veshchevo Air Base, which was home to the 66th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment (66-й АПИБ) of the Soviet Air Force. In the event of a pre-emptive strike on the main base, aircraft such as the MiG-21, MiG-27, and Su-17 could be moved to Tarosovo for protection and to continue operations. The airstrip consists of a single, robust concrete runway approximately 2,500 meters long, designed to handle jet fighters, but had minimal permanent infrastructure as it was not intended for permanent basing of units.

There are no known official plans or credible prospects for reopening the Tarosovo Airstrip. While there have been intermittent discussions over the past two decades about redeveloping the larger, primary Veshchevo Air Base for civilian cargo or passenger use, these plans have never materialized. The smaller, more dilapidated Tarosovo strip has not been part of any serious redevelopment discussions. The significant cost required to restore the runway and the lack of any strategic or economic need make its reactivation extremely unlikely.