Smuravyevo

Town is located 14 km northeast of Gdov. This medium-sized base is located 63 km south of Ivangorod and 200 km from Saint Petersburg.

The symbol of the town was a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, on a plinth, and the base was home to the 722nd Bomber Aviation Regiment (722 BAP) flying Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft. It was part of the 6th Air and Air Defence Forces Army during collapse of Soviet Union until towns closure.[1] In 1994 many servicemen and pilots were resettled here from the units located previously in East Germany. The town's population at the time was about 4000 residents.[2]

Circa 2010 the base was closed.[3]

Town and airport was closed during the 2008 reforms implemented by then defence minister Anatoliy Serdyukov. Locals did not welcome this change since the closure of the airport left hundreds unemployed without suitable alternatives. The gas supply for residents was cut off and town was left crumbling. Firewood is currently used but it's outdated and expensive option, partially due to the condition of heating systems. In 2020,The head of local municipal services Aleksandr Moyseyev, stated that the buildings are completely worn out and half of the towns residents are military retirees. Also the water systems are in bad shape, as locals are already living without reliable water supply, and the local water tower has been nicknamed as "The leaning tower of Pisa". If the tower collapses, town would also lose the water supply. The water quality has already declined to the undrinkable level so locals are forced to get their drinking water from the spring located 11,5 km outside of the town in village called Lyubimets.

In the area between residential buildings and airfield, they were building a school. When military left the town, 2 out of 3 floors in school were finished. Looters have been demolishing the building and according to the local residents, it's state is so bad that it's a suitable place to make a film about war in Syria or some other conflict. [4]