Rzhev (also given as Ryev, Rzev, Rjzev) is an air base in Tver Oblast

Tver Oblast

Tver Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Tver. From 1935 to 1990, it was named Kalinin Oblast after Mikhail Kalinin. Population: Tver Oblast is an area of lakes, such as Seliger and Brosno...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 located 5 km east of Rzhev

Rzhev

Rzhev is a town in Tver Oblast, Russia, southwest of Staritsa and from Tver, on the highway and railway connecting Moscow and Riga. It is the uppermost town situated on the Volga River. Population:...

. It was a Tupolev Tu-128 depot airfield during the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, operated by BKhAT (Aviation Equipment Storage Base) . The airfield also had an interceptor role during the 1960s and 1970s with the 23 IAP (23rd Interceptor Aviation Regiment) flying Sukhoi Su-9 jets. This regiment was disbanded in the 1980s but was resurrected a decade later at Dzemgi in the Russian Far East.