Soviet air base in Poland

For more than four decades, a fleet of Soviet fighters stood ready at this airfield in northern Poland -- prepared, if necessary, to take part in a strike against Western Europe.

The air base in Bagicz is located on a cliff overlooking the Baltic Sea, not far from the city of Koszalin. Originally built by the Germans, and used as a training area for the "Legion Condor" that took part in the Spanish Civil War, the base was taken over by the Soviets after World War II.

During the Cold War, the Bagicz base was home to such planes as the MiG-5, the MiG-21 and the MiG-23. While the MiG-23 was able to carry atomic bombs, the Soviets said they never kept nuclear weapons on Polish territory.

The Bagicz air base was completely under Soviet control during the Cold War. It was closed to local residents. Inside, behind the fences and checkpoints, 2,000 people called the air base home. It was a self-contained city, with its own hospital, school and shop.

In Bagicz, the Soviets kept one fighter-bomber wing, with three squadrons of 12 planes each. In 1968 they built 36 reinforced airplane shelters. The shelters were designed to withstand the shockwave from a nuclear explosion -- giving the Soviets the ability to still launch their aircraft after any Western attack.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Poland, the base was abandoned. Anything of value left on the site was looted. All that remains are various base buildings, the airplane bunkers, and a legacy of pollution under the runways from years of leaking jet fuel. Polish officials who searched the site say they found no nuclear waste or residual radiation at the airfield.

The Bagicz base is now used for more benign purposes by local residents -- who skate on its overgrown runways or use the reinforced shelters to house ultralight sport aircraft.