Vetrovoye Air Base

The air base was closed due to military restructuring and downsizing following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The primary unit stationed there, the 387th Fighter Aviation Regiment (387 IAP), was disbanded around 1994. The base's aging infrastructure and the high cost of maintenance in the harsh Kuril Islands climate became economically unfeasible for the new Russian Federation. Its strategic role was consolidated with the nearby Burevestnik Air Base.

The site is completely abandoned and in a state of advanced decay. Satellite imagery shows a crumbling concrete runway, numerous abandoned aircraft revetments, and the skeletal remains of hangars and support buildings. The harsh weather, including frequent fog, snow, and strong winds, has accelerated its deterioration. The area is a relic of 20th-century military history, visited occasionally by military history enthusiasts and photographers. For all practical purposes, its role has been entirely superseded. Military air operations on Iturup Island are now concentrated at Burevestnik Air Base, while all civilian traffic uses the modern Yasny Airport (ICAO: UHSI), which opened in 2014 and is located in a more weather-favorable part of the island.

Vetrovoye Air Base has significant historical importance spanning both World War II and the Cold War.

WWII (Japanese Era):
Originally built by the Japanese Empire and known as Tennei Airfield (天寧飛行場), it played a pivotal role in the attack on Pearl Harbor. In November 1941, the Japanese First Air Fleet (Kido Butai), comprising six aircraft carriers, secretly assembled in the adjacent Hitokappu Bay (単冠湾), now known as Kasatka Bay. The airfield supported the fleet's preparations before it departed on November 26, 1941, for its mission to attack Hawaii.

Cold War (Soviet Era):
After the Soviet Union took control of the Kuril Islands at the end of WWII in 1945, the airfield was repurposed as a key Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO) base. Renamed Vetrovoye, it became a forward operating base in a highly strategic region bordering Japan and in proximity to US forces. It housed the 387th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which flew interceptor aircraft such as the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 and later the MiG-23. The regiment's primary mission was to patrol the airspace, deter intrusions, and intercept US and Japanese reconnaissance aircraft during the height of the Cold War.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Vetrovoye Air Base. The site is considered permanently closed. The construction of the all-weather, modern Yasny Airport for civilian use has rendered any potential revival of Vetrovoye for that purpose obsolete. Its remote location, severe state of disrepair, and the prohibitive cost of rebuilding the runway and all associated infrastructure make any future reactivation economically and logistically unviable. The focus of aviation development on the island is firmly on the existing Yasny and Burevestnik airfields.