Kursk Vostochny Airport

Kursk Vostochny Airport , also known as Khalino airbase, Kursk-Khalino, is an interceptor aircraft base in Kursk Oblast, Russia, with a single runway located 7 km east of Kursk. It has been used for many decades as a military airbase and has had periods of time when it was also utilized as a commercial airport. It is located 4 miles northeast of Kursk and is considered a medium-sized base, with several alert pads. A civilian tarmac is located on the southern side of the airfield, which utilizes the common runway facilities.

History

Khalino airbase was home to:

472nd Fighter Aviation Regiment from 4 October 1979 to 1998. Moved in from Orel, Orel Oblast, where it had been stationed from 1950 to 1979. Equipped with Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23P or S from 1979. Disbanded 1 May 1998.
14th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment flying Mikoyan MiG-29 aircraft, having been relocated from Zherdevka (air base). Now part of the 105th Guards Mixed Aviation Division flying the Sukhoi Su-30SM.

All commercial flight activity at the airport was banned by Russian authorities at the start of the 2022 [Russian invasion of Ukraine], starting at 03:45 on 24 February 2022.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

On 6 December 2022 the airport’s oil storage caught fire. The Kursk governor blamed the fire on a drone strike amid the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On 2 June 2023, Ukrainian sources reported several Su-34 combat aircraft located at the airport were damaged/destroyed, along with a single MiG-29 and a Pantsir-S1 air defense missile system. The information has not yet been verified independently.
On 31 July 2024 the Armed Forces of Ukraine struck military storage near the airbase, causing fire detected by NASA's Fire Information for [Resource Management System|FIRMS].
On 3 July 2025, an aviation arsenal at Khalino airbase was struck by Ukrainian drones, leading to an explosion believed to include ammunition for the Pantsir-S1, one of which was “probably” damaged.

Airlines and destinations

provided limited scheduled commercial service to Moscow–Vnukovo as of 2018, and to Saint Petersburg and Sochi as of 2019. All commercial service at the airport was halted in February 2022 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.