Simushir South Airfield

Economic collapse and military restructuring. After the fall of the USSR, the new Russian Federation lacked the financial resources to maintain many of its remote and expensive military installations. The strategic doctrine also shifted, rendering the high-cost, isolated submarine base at Simushir obsolete. The entire facility was decommissioned and its population relocated.

The site is a completely abandoned ghost town. The former settlement of Kraternyy is in a state of advanced decay, with derelict apartment buildings, a school, and military structures being slowly reclaimed by the harsh subarctic environment. There is no permanent population. The location is now a destination for urban explorers, photographers, and tourists on expeditionary cruises who are drawn to its post-apocalyptic atmosphere and unique history.

The site was not a major airfield but a top-secret Soviet naval base located within Brouton Bay, a flooded volcanic caldera. The settlement was known as Kraternyy and the base was codenamed 'Oblast-500'. Its primary purpose was to serve as a concealed forward base for Soviet Pacific Fleet submarines. The bay's narrow entrance and sheltered waters made it an ideal hidden anchorage. The base housed up to 3,000 personnel, including military staff and their families. The 'airfield' (designated RU-0721 in unofficial databases) was a very small, auxiliary airstrip or more likely a series of helipads, used for light logistical support (e.g., An-2 aircraft, Mi-8 helicopters) to connect the isolated base with the outside world. It was not designed for combat jets or large transport aircraft.

There are no known official plans or realistic prospects for reopening the base or airfield at Kraternyy. Russia's current military modernization efforts in the Kuril Islands are concentrated on more strategically valuable and accessible islands like Iturup (Burevestnik Air Base) and Kunashir. The extreme isolation, severe weather conditions, and prohibitive cost of rebuilding the derelict infrastructure make the revival of the Simushir facility highly improbable.