Nivenskoye Air Base

The closure was a result of large-scale military restructuring and consolidation within the Russian Armed Forces. The primary unit stationed at Nivenskoye, the 689th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, was relocated to the nearby Chkalovsk Air Base. This move was part of a broader strategy to optimize force structure, reduce operational costs, and concentrate air assets at fewer, better-equipped facilities in the Kaliningrad region.

The air base is abandoned and in a state of significant decay. The main runway, taxiways, and dispersal areas are cracked, overgrown, and unusable for any aviation purposes. Many of the hardened aircraft shelters and support buildings are derelict. Some of the former military infrastructure is reportedly used for small-scale private storage or light industrial activities. A large portion of the former airfield's territory has been allocated for a major industrial project: the construction of a potash mining and processing plant. This project, led by the company K-Potash Service, has been a subject of local controversy and environmental protests.

Nivenskoye Air Base has a multi-layered history.

1. **German Era (pre-1945):** Originally built as a German Luftwaffe airfield known as 'Flugplatz Jesau'. It served as a training and operational base during World War II.

2. **Soviet Era (1945-1991):** After the war, it became a key forward operating base for Soviet Naval Aviation within the strategically vital Baltic Military District. It was home to the elite 689th Guards Sandomierz Order of Alexander Nevsky Fighter Aviation Regiment named after A.I. Pokryshkin. For decades, this regiment was tasked with the air defense of the Kaliningrad Oblast and the Baltic Fleet, frequently conducting intercepts of NATO reconnaissance and patrol aircraft over the Baltic Sea.

3. **Aircraft Operated:** The regiment flew various generations of fighter aircraft, including the MiG-17, MiG-23MLD, and, in its final years at the base (from 1992 to 2002), the formidable Sukhoi Su-27 'Flanker', one of the most advanced air superiority fighters of its time.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Nivenskoye as an active air base. The advanced state of infrastructural decay, combined with the firm plans for large-scale industrial redevelopment of the land for the potash plant, makes its reactivation as an airfield extremely unlikely. The site's future is firmly oriented towards industrial use rather than aviation.