Pruzhany (airfield)

The airfield was used by the Red Army Air Force before the war. Since August 1940, the regiments of the 10th mixed aviation division were based on it ^[1] :

• 33rd Fighter Aviation Regiment (I-16);
• 74th Assault Aviation Regiment (I-153, I-15bis).

On June 22, 1941, the first air victories of the 33rd IAP in World War II were won over the airfield: 4 enemy bombers (3 Xe-111 and 1 U-88) were shot down by pilots of the regiment, one of them was a battering ram. At the time of the start of combat work, the regiment had 44 I-16s (7 of which were faulty). By 10 a.m. June 22, not a single serviceable aircraft remained in the regiment. At 21.00, the personnel departed for air. Zyabrovka Gomel region, from there 06/26/1941 sent to the city of Gorky, in the 1st spare fighter aviation regiment of the Moscow Military District, where the 33rd IAP was reorganized according to the state 015/134 and rearmed for LaGG-3 fighters ^[2] .

On June 23, the airfield was captured by German troops and used by the Luftwaffe .

After the war, the airfield was used for military purposes. According to the directive of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces in 1953, the 95th Mixed Aviation Division , which became part of the 26th Air Army, was transferred to the airfield. Later, the division headquarters was transferred to Schuchin ^[3] .

Post-war period

After the war, from August 8, 1945 to 1959, the following were based at the airport:

• management and headquarters of the 311st assault aviation Molodechno Red Banner Division ;
• division regiments:
  • 825th assault aviation regiment ( IL-10 , disbanded in April 1947);
  • 952nd assault aviation regiment ( IL-10 , departed from the airfield in March 1954);
  • 75th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment ( IL-10 , arrived in in 1954, in 1955 departed from the airfield to the Luninets airfield);
  • 953rd Assault Aviation Regiment ( IL-10 , July 21, 1946 departed at the Zhabchitsy airfield).

From February 1952 to April 1, 1961, the 163rd Guards Fighter Aviation Theodosia Red Banner Order of the Suvorov Regiment on MiG-15 and MiG-17 aircraft was based at the airport. In March 1961, together the regiment was disbanded ^{[4] [5]} .

In 1984, the 357th separate assault aviation regiment on Su-25 aircraft was formed at the airport. In October 1985 he was transferred to the Brandis airfield as part of the 16th Air Army. He was armed with 35 Su-25, 2 Su-25UB, 6 L-39C aircraft. Withdrew from Germany on April 28, 1992, at Buturlinovka airfield.

In 1988, the 181st separate helicopter regiment was brought to the airport from Afghanistan. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the regiment became part of the Belarusian Air Force. On October 1, 1993, the 181st helicopter base of the Belarusian Air Force (disbanded in November 2015 ^[6] ) was formed on the basis of the regiment.

In 1987, the 206th separate assault aviation regiment on Su-25 aircraft was formed at the airport, the regiment took part in hostilities in Afghanistan. In 1993 he was transferred to the Lida airfield.

• In 1971, in honor of the pilots of the 33rd Fighter Regiment, a monument was erected at the city lake;
• In 1972, a monument to the pilot Stepan Gudzimov was erected in a park on the street of the Krasnoarmeyskaya city of Pruzhany, on June 22, 1941, he completed an air ramming over the airfield ^[7] .

• On November 29, 2011 at 19:45 local time, a Mi-24 Air Force and Belarusian Air Defense Forces crashed at the airport. The crash occurred during a training flight. The helicopter crashed while landing at the airport. All crew members died - crew commander Major Oleg Kokhno, flight technician captain Valery Bobko, pilot lieutenant Denis Glushchenko ^[8] ;

• Anokhin V. A., Bykov M. Yu. All Stalin's fighter aviation regiments. The first complete encyclopedia. - Popular science publication. - M .: Yauza-press, 2014 .-- S. 346. - 944 p. - 1,500 copies - ISBN 978-5-9955-0707-9 .

• History of the 95th Fighter Aviation Division
• Aerodrome map