{"id":7501,"date":"2025-06-13T00:01:24","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T00:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/russia-converts-kerch-airport-in-crimea-into-military-base-investigation-shows\/"},"modified":"2025-06-13T00:01:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T00:01:24","slug":"russia-converts-kerch-airport-in-crimea-into-military-base-investigation-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/russia-converts-kerch-airport-in-crimea-into-military-base-investigation-shows\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia converts Kerch Airport in Crimea into military base, investigation shows"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Russia<\/p>\n

Kerch Airport in occupied Crimea is being repurposed from civilian to military use, according to a June 12 investigation by Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty’s Schemes project, citing satellite imagery and Russian real estate registry data.<\/p>\n

On March 4, 2025, the Russian-backed authorities officially transferred part of the airport’s land to Russia’s Defense Ministry for indefinite use, according to the investigation<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Russia illegally annexed Crimea<\/a> in 2014 after a discredited referendum under military occupation. Since then, the peninsula has become a heavily militarized zone.<\/p>\n

Satellite images from the Planet Labs imaging company show ongoing construction at the site, including the installation of protective and camouflage structures around the runway.<\/p>\n

The changes suggest the airport is being converted into a military facility capable of supporting drone<\/a> operations or housing short-range air defense systems such as the Pantsir-S1<\/a> or Tor-M2, according to aviation expert Anatoly Khrapchinsky. <\/p>\n

The new runway will be suitable for drone launches, Khrapchinsky noted.<\/p>\n

Kerch Airport has not hosted regular commercial flights since 2007 and was previously used as a truck holding area for freight vehicles crossing the nearby ferry. That function was relocated in March 2025, officially as part of a “reorganization.”<\/p>\n

The city of Kerch<\/a>, situated near the strategic Kerch Strait, lies just across from Russia’s Krasnodar Krai and is home to the crucial Crimean Bridge<\/a>, built after Russia’s illegal annexation of the peninsula in 2014.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n
Germany to supply new Iris-T air defense systems to Ukraine, rules out Taurus missiles<\/div>\n
Germany will deliver new IRIS-T air defense systems to Ukraine under a three-year supply plan, President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a joint press conference with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who said Berlin has no plans to provide Taurus long-range missiles.<\/div>\n
\"RussiaThe Kyiv Independent<\/span>Tim Zadorozhnyy<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"Russia<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

– https:\/\/kyivindependent.com\/tag\/ukraine\/rss\/<\/p>\n

This article appeared on the websitekyivindependent.com
\nThis article is taken based on Law no. 8\/1996 of Romania. News does not enjoy copyright, so they can be taken, this is our right to take news and information in its entirety and distribute them further. The content was made available to us through the rss mechanism
\nOriginal Content<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kerch Airport in occupied Crimea is being repurposed from civilian to military use, according to a June 12 investigation by Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty’s Schemes project, citing satellite imagery and Russian real estate registry data. On March 4, 2025, the Russian-backed authorities officially transferred part of the airport’s land to Russia’s Defense Ministry for indefinite […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":7502,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1152,1],"tags":[2776,2917,7097,3998,35,198,822,7098,1386,1171,118],"class_list":["post-7501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kyivindependent","category-news","tag-airport","tag-base","tag-converts","tag-crimea","tag-in","tag-into","tag-investigation","tag-kerch","tag-military","tag-russia","tag-shows"],"yoast_head":"\nRussia converts Kerch Airport in Crimea into military base, investigation shows - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/russia-converts-kerch-airport-in-crimea-into-military-base-investigation-shows\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Russia converts Kerch Airport in Crimea into military base, investigation shows - News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kerch Airport in occupied Crimea is being repurposed from civilian to military use, according to a June 12 investigation by Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty’s Schemes project, citing satellite imagery and Russian real estate registry data. 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