Mukachevo Air Base

Military downsizing and strategic restructuring. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the newly independent Ukrainian Air Force underwent significant reduction in size. Numerous air bases, including Mukachevo, were deemed redundant or too costly to maintain, leading to the disbandment of the units stationed there and the subsequent closure of the base.

The air base is currently abandoned and non-operational. The physical infrastructure, including a long concrete runway (approximately 2,500 meters), taxiways, and numerous hardened aircraft shelters (HAS), remains in place but is in a state of significant disrepair. The site has been largely reclaimed by nature and is occasionally used by locals for informal activities like car races, driver training, or festivals. It is not used for any official aviation purposes.

Mukachevo Air Base was a key strategic military airfield during the Cold War. It was home to the 92nd Fighter Aviation Regiment (92 IAP) of the Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO). The base was part of the 8th Air Defence Army, tasked with protecting the western airspace of the USSR. For most of its operational history, the regiment flew variants of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 'Flogger'. In the late 1980s, it was one of the first units to be re-equipped with the advanced 4th-generation Mikoyan MiG-29 'Fulcrum' fighter jet. After 1991, the base and its regiment were transferred to the Ukrainian Air Force, but the unit was disbanded shortly thereafter as part of the post-Soviet military reorganization.

There have been significant and long-standing plans to redevelop the former air base into a new international civilian airport for the Zakarpattia Oblast. The existing Uzhhorod International Airport has major operational limitations due to its short runway and a flight path that requires entering Slovakian airspace. Mukachevo is considered a superior location due to its better meteorological conditions, central position within the region, and proximity to the borders of four EU countries (Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and Romania). The Ukrainian government had approved plans and allocated initial funding in its 2021 budget for design and preparatory work. However, the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has indefinitely suspended all civilian airport development projects. The future of the project is now entirely dependent on the conclusion of the war and post-war reconstruction priorities.