Belarus Carried Out Large-Scale Modernization of Airfields and Built New Bases Near Ukraine

Belarus has built two new military bases and carried out a large-scale modernization of its network of military airfields near the borders of Ukraine and Poland.

The Schemes journalists documented the development of Belarus’ military infrastructure.

The journalists analyzed dozens of satellite images of the Belarusian territory from 2022 to 2025 and tracked the large-scale development of military bases and the restoration of abandoned Soviet military units and airfields.

Based on the data obtained, the publication created a map of military facilities in Belarus, which includes almost two dozen new or modernized military infrastructure facilities in Belarus.

Modernization of airfields

In 2022, the Russian army actively used the network of military airfields in Belarus to deploy its fighter jets and army aviation to prepare for the invasion of Ukraine. Following the withdrawal of the bulk of Russian aviation, the country’s military command initiated a comprehensive modernization of most of these facilities.

One such example is the Lunynets airfield, located more than 50 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. It had been abandoned for a long time before the full-scale invasion, and in 2022, it became the base for more than two dozen Russian Su-25 attack aircraft, Su-34 bombers, and helicopters that attacked Ukraine in the first days of the great war.

Almost immediately after the aviation returned to Russia, according to satellite photos, barracks were restored, old hangars modernized and new ones erected, fuel depots and fortifications built, and numerous air defense systems and missile systems installed at the airport between 2022 and 2024.

In 2023, the airfield became the permanent location of a new Belarusian air defense unit, the 56th Air Defense Missile Regiment.

According to the analysis of satellite images, other airfields have been rebuilt, although not on as large a scale as Lunynets.

At the Lida (Hrodna region), Baranovichi (Brest region), Zyabrowka (Gomel region), and Machulishchi (Minsk region) airports, hangars for fighter jets were built, runways were repaired, radar systems were modernized, and additional fortifications were deployed, especially in the areas where fuel and lubricants were stored.

In the first year of the full-scale war, the Russian military actively used these airfields. In particular, Zyabrovka became one of the main bases in Belarus for Russian attack helicopters that attacked Ukraine in February 2022.

New bases on the border with Ukraine

Analyzing the photos from Planet Labs, journalists drew attention to two new facilities near the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, which became part of the Southern Operational Command, a territorial entity responsible for border protection on the part of Ukraine, established in 2022.

The first is on the outskirts of the city of Gomel, more than 30 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. It is likely to be a future military base. Since the end of 2023, the area has been cleared and trees cut down. Recent satellite images show that infrastructure is being actively built on the territory of the cut-down forest.

In particular, a photo from Planet Labs on September 4 shows numerous construction vehicles. The construction of the foundations of several buildings has already begun, a new road is being built through the forest, and the territory is being cleared of trees at several neighboring locations, one of which, according to the land plot information from the cadastre, is to be used as a tactical training field.

In state tenders and cadastres, the object is designated as a “military town in the Gomel region with a training and tactical field.” Belarusian media reported that it would include a parade ground, barracks, and a dining hall with 680 seats.

The size and infrastructure of this town correspond to the size of existing military bases in Belarus, meaning that it can potentially accommodate a military brigade with an average strength of about three thousand people.

Schemes journalists assume that this facility is being built for the 37th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade of the SSO, which was established this year.

Construction of the second facility near Ukraine’s border in Belarus began in 2024. It is also likely to be a military base. It is located south of Minsk, on the territory of the former Soviet base “Military Camp No. 25 Pavlovka”, where the disbanded Slutsk 306th Strategic Missile Regiment was previously stationed.

Satellite images from August 2025 show that warehouses protected by fortifications, three hangars for equipment, and foundations for other buildings, including personnel quarters, have already been erected on the territory.

It is not yet known which unit will be stationed there. Schemes suggest that the new facility could serve as a basing point for a Russian unit equipped with Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missiles. Vladimir Putin announced that the latter would appear on the territory of Belarus at the end of 2025.

On the satellite photo, journalists noticed three more sites nearby, connected by roads, with partially constructed foundations for future buildings.

Analyzing the satellite photos, journalists paid special attention to two military units in the central part of Belarus, near the town of Osipovichi, which have been built over the past three years. One of them is the 465th Missile Brigade.

According to satellite photos, large-scale construction work began there in early 2023 and is still ongoing, but it appears to be nearing completion. Over the past two years, according to the Belarusian branch of Radio Liberty, several Iskander-M missile systems have been deployed on its territory. Probably, three new hangars were built for them, which are visible from the satellite.

Warehouses for storing military equipment and ammunition have also appeared on the territory, barracks and administrative buildings have been reconstructed, and a sports complex has been built.

In the late summer of 2024, a satellite recorded that a separate railroad track was being laid between the base of the 465th Missile Brigade and the neighboring 1405th Artillery Ammunition Base.

The latter – the ammunition base – is called one of the possible storage sites for Russian nuclear weapons. This is evidenced by an investigation by the Belarusian service of Radio Liberty, as well as by experts from The New York Times and the Federation of American Scientists.

On March 25, 2023, Vladimir Putin announced the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Almost simultaneously with this announcement, construction work began on the territory of the 1405th base in Osipovichi: several old buildings, including the headquarters, were reconstructed in the western part, and three new ones were built, two of which are likely barracks. This means that the unit’s personnel can be increased to 240 people.

A separate technical area was built on the territory of the military unit. Two earthen ramparts for air defense systems can also be seen on the satellite photos.