Slavne Airfield

The airfield was closed and abandoned following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Its primary operator, the 943rd Naval Missile-Carrying Aviation Regiment, was transferred to Ukrainian jurisdiction after 1991. Due to a combination of severe economic constraints, a shift in military doctrine, and international disarmament agreements (such as the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program), Ukraine decided to decommission its entire fleet of Tu-22M strategic bombers. With the disbandment of the regiment around 1996, the air base lost its purpose and was subsequently abandoned.

The airfield is completely derelict and non-operational for aviation. Satellite imagery shows the two intersecting runways and extensive network of taxiways and hardstands are severely degraded, cracked, and heavily overgrown with vegetation, making them unusable for any fixed-wing aircraft without massive reconstruction. The support buildings, hangars, and personnel barracks are in ruins. Since the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea and especially following the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the site has seen renewed military use by Russian forces. OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) analysis and satellite imagery have confirmed that the large, open area of the former airfield has been used to deploy air defense systems, likely S-300 or S-400 batteries, and potentially as a staging area for military equipment.

Slavne Airfield was a major strategic military air base for the Soviet Naval Aviation's Black Sea Fleet during the Cold War. It was the home base of the 943rd Naval Missile-Carrying Aviation Regiment (943 МРАП). Initially, the regiment operated Tupolev Tu-16 'Badger' missile-carrying bombers. In the 1970s, it became one of the first units to be re-equipped with the advanced supersonic long-range Tupolev Tu-22M2 'Backfire-B', and later the Tu-22M3 'Backfire-C' bombers. The primary mission of these aircraft was anti-surface warfare, specifically to detect and destroy NATO aircraft carrier strike groups and other major naval vessels in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and beyond. The base was a critical component of the USSR's anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy in the region.

There are no known plans or prospects to reopen Slavne Airfield for civilian use. A full military reactivation for fixed-wing aircraft is considered unlikely in the short-to-medium term due to the prohibitive cost of rebuilding the entire infrastructure from its current ruined state. Russia has focused on maintaining and upgrading its existing, operational air bases in Crimea (e.g., Belbek, Gvardeyskoye, Dzhankoi). However, the site's strategic location in northwestern Crimea means it will likely continue to be used opportunistically by the Russian military as a dispersal site, a forward arming and refueling point (FARP) for helicopters, or as a base for mobile air defense, radar, and electronic warfare systems. Any long-term future for the site is entirely dependent on the outcome of the Russo-Ukrainian War.