Ozeryany Airfield

The airfield, more commonly known as Dubno Air Base, was closed due to large-scale military restructuring and downsizing following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The Ukrainian Air Force, which inherited the base, could not afford to maintain the vast number of military airfields it acquired. The specific aviation regiment stationed at the base was disbanded, and the airfield was subsequently abandoned.

The site is completely abandoned and in a state of advanced decay. Satellite imagery and urban exploration reports show the runway and taxiways are cracked, crumbling, and heavily overgrown with grass and trees. The hardened aircraft shelters, administrative buildings, and support facilities are derelict and have been stripped of valuable materials over the years. The airfield is non-operational and serves as a popular destination for urban explorers and as a decaying relic of the Cold War. The ICAO code 'UA-9871' is an unofficial identifier used in some non-governmental databases or flight simulators, not an official ICAO code.

This was a significant Soviet Air Force base during the Cold War. Its primary role was as a forward operating base for tactical bomber aircraft. It was home to the 947th Bomber Aviation Regiment (947 BAP), which flew Sukhoi Su-24 'Fencer' supersonic, all-weather attack aircraft. The base was part of the 4th Air Army of the Soviet Air Force and was designed to project air power towards Central Europe. The infrastructure, including a 2500-meter runway and numerous hardened aircraft shelters, reflects its strategic importance during that era. After 1991, it was transferred to the Ukrainian Air Force before its eventual closure.

There are no known concrete or active plans to reopen the airfield. Over the past two decades, local and regional authorities have occasionally discussed the possibility of reviving the site for civilian use, such as a cargo hub or a regional passenger airport, leveraging the existing long runway. However, these proposals have never progressed due to the prohibitive cost of restoring the entire infrastructure (runway, navigation systems, terminals) and the lack of a viable business case, especially with Rivne International Airport (UKLR) located relatively nearby. The ongoing military conflict in Ukraine makes any such large-scale civilian infrastructure project highly improbable in the foreseeable future.